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MYRON     HOLLEI; 


AND 


"WHAT   HE   DID   FOR 


LIBERTY 


AND 


TRUE     RELIGION. 


He  knew  to  lead  and  to  provide, 
Who  showed  us  how  to  do  and  died. 


1882: 
PRINTED    FOR    THE    AUTHOR. 

P.  0.  Box  109,  Boston. 


Copyright  secured  by  Elizur  Wright. 


A  copy  of  this  book,  which  three  leading  publishers,  though  guar- 
anteed against  loss,  have  declined  to  publish,  either  with  the  author's 
name  or  without  it,  will  be  sent  postpaid  on  the  receipt  of  $1.50 
addressed  to  Elizcr  Wright,  Box  109,  Boston.  Or  ten  copies  will 
be  sent,  free  of  freight,  on  the  receipt  of  $10.00. 

If  any  profit  should  accrue  from  the  sale,  it  will  all  be  paid  to  the 
descendants  of  Myron  Holley,  till  such  time  as  the  State  of  New  York 
shall  have  paid  the  just  debt  it  owes  them. 


51  o^. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Introductory.    Condition  and  prospects  of  the  country  sixty- 
years  ago.    Use  of  biography, 9 

CHAPTER  I. 

Ancestry.  The  telescope.  Newton.  Edmund  Halley. 
"Fixed"  stars  in  motion.  The  heavens  firm.  An  or- 
derly comet.    The  magnetic  poles 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Birth  and  Education-.  Tahkannuc  and  Housatonic.  Lu- 
ther Holley  and  Sarah  Dakin.  College.  A  true  father's 
educational  letter.    Boy  friends.    Law  studies,        .        .  16 

f    ^  , 

CHAPTER  III. 

Canaxdaigva.  Who  settled  it,  and  when.  .  The  pioneer  of 
parlor  civilization, 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Choice  of  Pursuit.  A  man  too  good  for  the  legal  profes- 
sion. A  wizard  defended.  Bookseller;  County  Clerk; 
Philanthropist ;  Legislator, 29 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Marriage.     Sally   House.     Her  Methodism.     Her  father. 


Page 
Her  children.    Her  beauty.     Her  wifehood,      ...  36 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Church  Connection.  Outgrown,  and  how.  Religious  tol- 
erance held  as  criminal.    The  word  of  Elkanah  Watson,  39 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Erie  Canal.  The  wilderness.  Geddes.  Early  emigration. 
Colles.  Gov.  Clinton.  Gouverneur  Morris.  De  Witt' 
Clinton.    How  Nature  had  begun  it  at  the  Irondequot,    .  41 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Exploration  of  1810.  The  commissioners.  Clinton's  diary. 
Navigation  of  the  Mohawk.  Outfit.  Fourth  of  July. 
The  ballot-box  in  1809.  A  tavern.  Navigators  on  foot. 
Literature,  Ethics,  and  Oaths.  Little  Falls.  Price  of 
stockings.  Baggs  and  Billinger.  Clinton's  jocosity.  The 
salmon.  The  scarlet  tanagcr.  Alexander  Wilson.  Wood 
Creek.  Malaria.  Medicine.  A  woman  100  years  old! 
A  camp-meeting.    Queer  names.  A  glimpse  of  free  trade,  49 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Exploration  of  1816.  Holley  the  motive  and  executive 
power.  His  close  estimate  of  cost.  Middlesex  Canal. 
The  marvellous  work  of  one  year, 69 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Financial  Provision.  Backwardness  and  opposition. 
Borrowing  of  the  banks,  provided  the  State  would  put  in 
circulation  their  little  borrowings.  The  risk  and  burden 
of  this  thrown  on  Mr.  Holley.  His  executive  wisdom  and 
justice, 73 


CONTENTS.  5 


CHAPTER  XL 


Page 


The  Digging.  Ceremonial  beginning.  "  The  era  of  good 
feeling."  Contemporaneous  facts  relating  to  the  Indian 
and  African  races.  Enthusiasm  in  the  digging.  Wheel- 
barrow improved.  Trees  pulled  up  by  the  roots.  The  • 
dentistry  of  stumps.  "  Peter  Ploughshare,"  and  how  he 
was  ploughed  under,  and  lost  to  history.  Holley's  letter 
to  O'Rielly.    De  Witt  Clinton's  testimony,        ...  77 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Economy,  Public  and  Private.  Detail  of  personal  ex- 
penses in  public  service.    Figures  that  fit,         ...  97 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Embarrassment.  Ease  of  getting  rich  on  public  works. 
How  Mr.  Holley's  noble  honesty  and  patriotism  pre- 
vented it  in  his  case.  His  explanation  and  claim.  His 
heroic  exposure  for  the  sick.  The  legislative  meanness. 
The  puzzle  to  Jefferson.  Holley's  faith  in  the  future. 
His  admiration  of  La  Fayette.  Cotemporary  facts  in 
France 101 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Ax  Home  with  his  Family.     His    picture  of  his  home. 

What  he  thought  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,        ...         120 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Wedding  of  the  Waters.  The  maker  of  the  match, 
though  he  was  not  allowed  the  honor  of  giving  the  bride 
away,  was  not  small  enough  to  withhold  his  attendance 
at  the  wedding.    The  details  of  its  magnificence,      .        .         124 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Page 


The  Struggle  for  Justice.    It  lasts  till  1828.    He  stands 

s 
up  like  a  man.    Makes  no  concession  to  bigotry.    No 

rancour  against  enemies.    Friends  cannot  make  a  pauper 

of  bim.    Congratulates  bis  wife  on  recovering  bis  borne. 

Deatb  of  De  "Witt  Clinton.    Mrs.  Clinton.    Birth  of  the 

railroad  system.    The  relation  of  canals  to  it,  .        .        .  139 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Horticulture.  Gives  quince-trees  to  Jesse  Buel.  Founds 
a  horticultural  society.  Tribute  to  Nebuchadnezzar. 
Virtues  of  gardening  and  qualities  of  a  gardener,     .        .         144 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Anti-Masonry.  Shrinkage  of  the  Order.  Its  cause.  His 
masonic  friends.  Origin  of  free-masonry.  Alliance 
with  sacred  history.  Its  foolish  boast.  Murder  of  Wil- 
liam Morgan.  Concealment  overdone.  The  revelation 
complete,  and  incontrovertible.  Knights  Templars  of  Le 
Roy.  Conventions,  State  and  National.  Holley's  ad- 
dresses. Political  action.  Chief  Justice  Marshall.  Re- 
vivalists coming  to  the  rescue  of  the  free-masons.  Hol- 
ley  proof  against  their  arts.  An  anti-masonic  editor. 
His  salutatory.  Attacked  by  the  politicians  with  ca- 
lumny.   His  grand  defence.    Indubitable  proof  of  his 

r 

claim.    Whitney's  confession  to  Thurlow  Weed,      .        .         152 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Residence  in  Hartford.  Society  in  that  city.  Holley's 
support  under  persecution.  His  conception  of  Deity.  His 
family  discipline.  The  insane  retreat.  Writes  a  commit- 
tee report  on  the  masonic  oaths,  with  a  bill.  Home  sick- 
ness.   How  be  honored  Bolivar, 202 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  XX. 


Pasre 


Liberty  Party.  Slavery,  how  abolished  in  word  but  not 
in  deed.  Holley  dug  the  ditch  that  led  to  its  burial. 
Mobs  and  church  opposed  to  abolition.  Garrison  the 
moral  pioneer  of  practical  liberty.  His  logic  and  his  lim- 
itations. Franklin's  confession.  The  constitution's  fault. 
Holley  plants  the  acorn  in  1S10.  Its  growth.  His  anti- 
slavery  career  begins  in  1837.  Startled  in  1839  by  the 
speech  of  Henry  Clay.  His  Fourth  of  July  address.  His 
attempt  at  Cleveland.  He  carries  a  nomination  at  War- 
saw. How  it  was  confirmed  at  Albany.  How  it  was 
criticized, 226 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

On  the  Stump.  Origin  of  the  phrase.  Rochester  Freeman. 
Prophesied  that  slavery  would  be  abolished  in  twenty 
years.  Self-depreciation.  Great  labor  and  small  pay. 
Pain  in  the  breast.  "Want  of  sleep.  Character  of  his  elo- 
quence. Alvan  Stewart,  Wendell  Phillips,  Theodore  D. 
Weld,  Angelina  Grimke,  as  orators, 276 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

His  Homes.  The  value  of  their  memory.  What  homes  are 
worthy  to  be  forgotten.  Beauty  of  Lyons.  His  home  in 
a  fruit-orchard  celebrated  by  a  Canandaiguan  poet. 
Woodman,  spare  the  elms.  "Grandeur"  of  the  canal, 
and  its  music.  As  a  mourner  for  his  children.  His  defi- 
nition of  religion.  Letter  to  his  little  boy,  Bolivar.  Sale 
of  his  farm.  His  last  letter.  His  last  home.  How  the 
abolitionists  adorned  his  grave.  The  eulogy  of  Gen-it 
Smith.    The  ode  of  John  rierpont, 285 


8  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


Page 


His  Character.  Family  the  ultimate  test.  The  reverence 
of  his  daughters.  He  was  no  pharisee.  As  a  purveyor 
of  vegetables.  Was  called  an  "infidel."  His  praying. 
His  horror  of  revivalism.  As  an  employer  of  labor.  His 
method  with  tramps.  His  sleep,  food,  drink,  and  refine- 
ment. Delight  in  children.  Justice.  Picture  by  "  Grace 
Greenwood."  Delight  in  dancing.  His  last  words.  Col. 
Stone's  testimony  to  his  public  character.  What  the 
State  of  New  York  owes  his  heirs.  The  Rochester  Demo- 
crat's  obituary, 305 


INTRODUCTORY, 


Sixty  years  ago  the  interior  of  this  vast,  well- 
knit  republic  was  a  wilderness,  the  home  of  wild 
beasts,  hunted  by  almost  wilder  men.  Seemingly 
interminable  rivers  traversed  interminable  forests  ; 
but  no  railroad,  no  canal ;  no  common  wagon-road 
which  did  not  end  at  some  forlorn-looking  log 
hut.  Scattered  along  the  Atlantic  coast  were 
states  almost  strangers  to  each  other,  differing 
widely  in  manners  and  customs.  At  the  north 
was  close-fisted,  hard-drudging  industry,  with  an 
insatiable  appetite  for  traffic,  and  getting  the  best 
of  a  bargain.  At  the  south  was  prodigality,  in- 
dolence, and  chattel  slavery.  The  only  bond  of 
union  was,  that  all  had  together  rebelled  against 
the  dominion  of  a  mother-country,  and  achieved 
by  common  effort  and  suffering  a  costly  independ- 
ence.    That  such  a  string  of  states  would  long 


10  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

bold  together  there  was  almost  no  reason  to  ex- 
pect.  Morally,  geographically,  ethnographi  ally, 
everything  was  against  it,  except  the  storms  of  the 
Atlantic  and  the  absence  of  steam-power,  which 
had  made  independence  possible.  The  infancy 
of  the  national  republic  had  been  precarious, 
stormy,  and  full  of  narrow  escapes  from  inglorious 
wreck.  It  emerged  from  the  war  of  1812  pretty 
evenly  divided  into  two  political  parties,  bitterly 
hostile  to  each  other  on  some  comparatively  unim- 
portant questions,  but  both  about  equally  under 
the  domination  of  the  slave-holders  of  the  south 
on  the  vital  question  of  personal  liberty.  Any- 
thing then  more  unlikely  to  happen  than  that  the 
shores  of  the  great  lakes  and  the  northern  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  would  be  peopled  in  thirty  years, 
or  that  slavery  would  be  abolished  in  sixty,  could 
not  well  be  conceived. 

Among  the  moving  forces  which  have  conspired 
to  bring  about  the  wonderful  events  we  have  lived 
to  see,  there  must  be  many  men  and  women  whose 
lives  are  worthy  of  the  most  precise  history  and 
careful  preservation  for  the  benefit  of  posterity. 


INTRODUCTORY.  11 

Not  always  the  men  who  get  the  highest  place  in 
the  cotemporary  record  have  the  best  right  to  be 
there.  The  must  prominent  at  the  time  are  not 
always  the  most  effective.  Some  are  inscribing 
their  names,  while  others  are  quietly  doing  the 
work.  It  is  of  the  utmost  moment  to  posterity  to 
know  what  manner  of  men  they  were  who  did  the 
best  work,  whether  in  giving  direction  to  the  phy- 
sical or  the  moral  forces  of  the  people.  These 
forces,  always  intimately  related  to  each  other, 
must  conspire  and  act  in  a  certain  concert  to  pro- 
duce any  great  nation,  any  upward  movement  of 
the  race. 

It  is  the  ambition  of  this  slight  monograph  to 
point  my  countrymen,  and  especially  my  country- 
women, of  this  ^feneration,  to  one  who  died  before 
most  of  them  were  born,  and  whose  memory  de- 
serves to  be  forever  decked  with  the  greenest 
wreaths  and  the  loveliest  flowers  ;  to  a  man  whose 
modesty  never  allowed  him  to  spend  a  thought  on 
the  place  he  was  to  occupy  in  histoiy,  but  who  yet 
did  more  perhaps  than  any  other  one  man  to  con- 
vert our  irreat   central  forest  into  a  garden,  and 


12  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

then  grave  his  life  to  make  the  continent  one  nation 
in  which  justice  should  reign. 

Christianity  in  paying  divine  honors  to  its  al- 
leged founder  traces,  or  pretends  to  trace,  his 
lineage  back  to  a  remarkable  king  of  antiquity,  so 
the  purpose  of  this  sketch  cannot  be  most  effect- 
ively accomplished  without  going  back  to  a  very 

■ 

royal  personage  in  the  history  of  science,  a  gene- 
alogy which  can  be  easily  verified  by  any  one  who 
doubts. 


ANCESTRY.  13 


CHAPTER  I. 


ANCESTRY. 


In  1656  there  was  born  in  London,  as  son  to  a 
wealthy  citizen,  one  "who,  before  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, had  provided  himself  with  Gallileo's  instru- 
ments to  watch  the  stars.  Newton,  a  posthumous 
baby,  born  so  small  that  a  "  quart  mug  would 
have  contained  him,"  was  14  years  his  senior. 
This  youth  of  nineteen  who  was  questioning  the 
heavens  with  his  own  telescope  nine  years  after 
Newton  had  conceived  the  idea  of  the  law  of  grav- 
ity, and  eleven  years  before  that  abnormal  man 
published  his  immortal  Principia,  was  named 
Edmund  Halle y,  a  name  which  his  descendants 
in  this  country  spell  Holley.  Edmund  Halley 
was  a  stalwart,  scholarly,  profound,  self-sacrific- 
ing, comprehensive  philosopher,  who  filled  with 
his  labors  a  life  of  86  years,  for  29  of  which  he 
was  secretary  of  the  Royal  Society.  Determined 
from  the  start  to  know  what  was  going  on,  and  by 
what  law,  among  the  "fixed"  stars  and  planets,  he 
first  delved  into  the  dim  records  of  the  ancient 


14  MYRON  HOLLEY. 

astronomers  to  find  the  relative  positions  of  heav- 
enly bodies  in  their  days,  and  then  by  the  most 
laborious  application  to  his  telescope,  discovered 
that  these  bodies  were  none  of  them  "fixed."  He 
discovered  those  motions  of  the  star-suns,  and 
those  perturbations  of  the  planets  and  their  satel- 
lites, which  Newton,  Leibnitz,  La  Grange,  La 
Place,  and  other  mathematicians,  have  since  gained 
immortality  by  explaining.  His  genius  laid  the 
foundation  of  modern  astronomical  discoveries. 
He  gave  his  name  to  a  comet  which  had  for  thou- 
sands  of  years  been  frightening  mankind  at  inter- 
vals, by  so  carefully  observing  it  in  1681  as  to 
successfully  predict  its  return  in  1759.  It  came 
back  again  according  to  prediction  in  1835,  and 
will  probably  make  another  appearance  about 
1913.  Halley's  discovery  of  the  "fixed"  stars  in 
motion,  and  the  perturbation  of  the  planets  at  first 
frightened  even  philosophers  for  the  stability  of 
our  system.  It  might  be  crushed  by  and  by.  Even 
the  genial  and  hopeful  poet,  Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin, 
grandfather  of  the  immortal  evolutionist,  wrote, 
probably  about  17 GO,  — 

"  Star  after  star  from  heaven's  high  arcli  shall  rush, 
•    Suns  sink  on  Suns,  and  systems  systems  crush, 
Headlong,  extinct,  to  one  dark  centre  fall, 
And  Death  and  Night  and  Chaos  mingle  all ! 


ANCESTRY.  15 

Till  o'er  the  wreck,  emerging  from  the  storm, 
Immortal  Nature  lifts  her  changeful  form, 
Mounts  from  her  funeral  pyre  on  wings  of  flame 
And  soars  and  shines,  another  and  the  same." 

La  Grange  and  La  Place  had  not  then  mathe- 
matically  demonstrated  the  stability  of  the  heavens, 
a  demonstration  which  subsequent  observations 
have  confirmed  to  the  extent  of  showing  that  our 
moon,  even,  is  not  approaching  the  earth,  if  at  all, 
at  an  average  rate  of  more  than  one  fourteenth  of 
an  inch  a  month.  Halley  himself  seems  to  have 
kept  perfectly  calm  regarding  the  sublime  motions 
and  perturbations  he  had  discovered  as  nothing 
but  an  orderly  dance,  or  as  a  French  mathemati- 
cian has  expressed  it,  nothing  but  the  swinging  of 
"the  pendulums  of  eternity,  wdiich  beat  ages 
while  ours  beat  seconds." 

Edmund  Halley  was  not  a  mere  star-gazer,  but 
a  warm-blooded  man  of  the  world,  who  looked 
shrewdly  into  the  life  of  our  own  planet,  travers- 
ing oceans  in  two  long  voyages  to  find  the  mag- 
netic poles.  To  him  we  owe  it,  that  the  mild, 
contemplative,  absent-minded,  and  rather  super- 
stitious Newton,  was  encouraged,  or  almost  com- 
pelled, to  publish  his  Princijoia,  rather  than  to 
waste  all  his  time  in  interpreting  the  scriptural 
prophecies. 


16  MYRON    HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER  H. 


BIRTH    AXD    EDUCATION. 


Myron  Holley,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the 
great  Royal  Astronomer  of  the  previous  chapter, 
was  born  in  Salisbury,  Connecticut,  April  29, 
1779,  and  died  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  March  4, 
1841.  He  had  the  advantage  of  spending  his 
early  }Tears  in  one  of  the  loveliest  spots  on  this 
or  any  continent,  where  the  cloud-capped  Tah- 
kannuc  and  its  gaily  wooded  attendant  moun- 
tains see  themselves  in  many  embowered  lakes, 
and  listen  to  the  unceasing  farewell  of  a  river 
that  has  lingered,  lovingly,  in  the  intervening 
valley  till  it  is  obliged  to  overleap  its  marble  bar- 
rier and  make  haste  to  the  sea.  It  was  here  that 
Nature  had  done  her  best,  and  she  found  a  true 
worshipper  in  young  Myron.  It  was  in  the 
groves  of  this  paradise  that  he  saw  the  choicest 
birds  build  their  nests.  It  was  from  its  rock- 
ribbed  mountain  walls  that  he  saw  marble  hauled 
slowly  away  by  oxen  to  build  great  cities.     It 


BIRTH    AXD    EDUCATION.  17 

was  from  the  glowing  furnaces  and  forces  whero 
the  evergrowing  wood  of  the  mountains  met  the 
red  ore  from  underneath  the  hills,  that  he  saw  go 
the  great  anchors  to  hold  our  ships  in  every  har- 
bor of  the  world.  And  his  father,  Luther  Holley, 
had  before  the  revolution  been  one  of  the  wood- 
choppers  to  feed  these  furnaces. 

It  is  at  the  mention  of  this  Luther  Holley, 
that  one  feels  almost  irresistibly  tempted  to  stop 
and  write  a  book.  He  was  -a  model  American, 
not  only  for  his  own  but  for  future  ages.  A 
man  with  no  nonsense  about  him.  An  independ- 
ent, self-centred  man,  who  despised  no  church, 
and  belonged  to  none.  A  man  always  of  the 
laboring  class,  too  wide  for  anything  narrow,  and 
charitable  equally  to  the  poor  and  the  rich. 

Luther's  great-grandfather,  coming  from  Eng- 
land, settled  first  at  Stratford  and  then  at  Stam- 
ford, Ct.  His  grandfather  came  up  the  Housa- 
tonic  into  the  wilderness  as  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Sharon,  adjoining  Salisbury.  His  father,  John, 
was' a  prosperous  farmer  there,  till  a  fire  consumed 
his  house  and  all  its  contents,  reducing  him  to 
poverty,  which  was  followed  by  the  total  loss  of 
his  health.  Two  older  brothers  having  already 
left  home  to  make  their   way  in  the  world,   the 


18  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

whole  burden  of  the  farm  and  support  of  a 
sick  father  fell  -upon  Luther,  a  lad  of  sixteen, 
aided  only  by  his  mother  and  sisters.  In  this 
lad's  old  a^e  he  wrote  to  his  distinguished  son 
Horace,  a  very  graphic  sketch  of  his  early  life,  in 
which  he  says  :  — "I  worked  hard  during  the  da}', 
and  at  night  had  to  go  after  doctors  and  medicine. 
As  doctors  were  then  scarce,  I  had  often  to  go 
eight  or  nine  miles,  when  I  was  so  weary  that  I 
have  fallen  asleep  on  my  horse  and  rode  for  miles 
without  knowing  where  I  was,  contriving  to  bal- 
ance, however,  so  as  to  keep  my  seat." 

In  mending  a  plough  he  inflicted  a  cut  on  his 
knee,  by  which  he  lost  twelve  weeks  of  time  and 
narrowly  escaped  losing  his  leg.  TThile  disabled 
from  work  by  this  accident  he  qualified  himself  to 
teach  school,  having  never  attended  school  but 
five  days  himself.  In  this  he  was  successful, 
earning  seven  dollars  a  month  by  teaching  in  the 
winter,  and  working  on  the  farm  in  summer  a*s 
well  as  his  stiff  leg  would  permit.  Bad  crops 
and  the  death  of  a  horse,  for  which  he  was  partly 
in  debt,  did  not  discourage  him,  and  he  finally 
achieved  the  highest  proof  of  honest  manhood  in 
paying  for  that  horse  in  full.  And  at  the  same 
time  he   naively  writes   to  his  son,  "  I  was,  not' 


BIUTH    AXD    EDUCATION.  19 

withstanding,     actually     negotiating     with     your 

mother,  and  in  the  following  October  we  were 
married."'  This  mother  was  Sarah  Dakin,  the 
daughter  of  a  Calvinistic  Baptist  preacher,  a  very 

religious  woman,  but  of  whom  it  is  recorded,  that 
"  -he  never  could  be  persuaded  to  believe  that  her 
own  child  would  suffer  endless  torments  on  ac- 
count of  a  point  of  faith."  *  By  fair  dealing  and 
industry,  which  seems  never  to  have  given  him 
time  more  than  to  take  a  little  rest  in  a  church, 
the  husband  became  a  man  of  comparative  wealth 
in  Salisbury,  and  the  wife  the  mother  of  a  large 
family,  of  whom  John  Milton,  Myron,  Horace 
and  Orville  L.  made  their  marks  in  the  world. 
The  first  owed  his  name  to  his  father's  admiration 
for  the  poet  of  Paradise  Lost,  a  work  which  he 
could  repeat  from  memory,  and  which  with  a 
universal  History  composed  most  of  his  library. 

Like  most  self-educated  men,  this  Luther 
Holley  no  sooner  found  himself  possessed  of  sons 
and  means  than  he  was  disposed  to  devote  a  good 
deal  of  the  latter  to  what  is  called  the  liberal 
education  of  the  former.  Three  of  his  sons, 
Myron,  the   subject  of  this  memoir,  Horace,  the 

*  Xotice  the  importance  of  that  fact  in  regard  to  the  educa- 
tion of  her  son. 


20  MYRON    IIOLLEY. 

President  of  Transylvania  University,  and  Orville 
L.,  were  college  graduates,  —  Myron,  like  the  late 
James  A.  Garfield,  graduating  at  Williams  Col- 
lege in  1799,  Horace  at  Yale  in  1803,  and 
Orville  Luther  at  Harvard.  But  the  father  by  no 
means  entrusted  the  education  of  his  sons  wholly 
to  the  colleges,  as  the  letters  from  him  which 
they  preserved  abundantly  show.  One  of  them, 
addressed  to  Horace,  in  1802,  makes  one  wish 
this  rustic  Luther  had  been  president  of  a  college 
himself.  It  is  a  nugget  of  native  gold,  and 
worthy  of  a  place  in  the  Bible  of  Humanity  when- 
ever that  book  comes  to  be  canonized.  It  must 
be  quoted  nearly  entire  before  entering  on  the 
life  of  the  greatest  of  the  three  college-bred  sons. 

Salisbury,  March  21st,  1802. 
Dear  Horace  : — After  several  attempts,  which  have 
been  interrupted,  I  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  finish  and 
send  you  a  letter.  There  would  be  no  difficulty  in 
writing  if  I  had  nothing  to  say  out  of  the  common  wa}\ 
But  without  further  preface,  I  shall  proceed  to  the  sub- 
ject which  will  occupy  the  principal  part  of  this  sheet. 
I  have  long  since  viewed  3-011  as  possessing  talents 
above  the  common  level,  and  several  pieces  of  your  own 
composition,  which  you  read  when  last  at  home,  more 
fully  confirmed  my  opinion ;  yet  with  all  your  activit}' 
and  good  sense,  I  feel  some  degree  of  anxiet}-  on  yowc 
account.     Are  vou  not  too  much  inclined  to  domination, 


BIRTH    AND    EDUCATION.  21 

and,  though  honest  and  upright  in  disposition,  prone 
to  consider  the  common  class  of  mankind  with  too 
little  attention?  I  have  not  time  to  be  \cry  particular, 
but  would  not  a  fair  and  candid  investigation  give  you 
different  ideas,  and  be  of  use  to  you  in  3'our  future 
course  ? 

Look    round,  my  son,    and   carefully   examine    the 

causes  by  which   the  United   States  are  thus   rapidly 

increasing    in   wealth   and    improvement.       Is    it   not 

.because  we   are    habituated    to,    and   not    ashamed   of 

•labor  ? 

"When  you  view  the  highly-cultivated  fields,  the  towns 
and  villages,  the  useful  as  well  as  the  more  elegant 
arts  ;  nay,  when  vou  are  conveniently  dressed,  and 
comfortably  fed,  are  vou  not  led  to  say  :  These  are  the 
productions  of  labor ;  and  for  these  am  I  beholden  to 
the  hard  hand  of  industry  ?  "Why  then  should  we  not 
sa}*,  The  laboring  class,  though  less  informed  in  science, 
and  perhaps  less  entertaining  in  conversation,  are  yet 
the  most  meritorious  citizens  ? 

If  we  look  for  men  most  necessary  in  times  of  immi- 
nent danger,  where  are  we  better  furnished  than  by 
applying  to  those  who  are  inured  to  hardship,  like  Cin- 
cinnati! s  and  Gideon  of  old,  the  former  called  from  the 
plough,  the  latter  from  the  threshing-floor.  General 
Lincoln,  I  am  told,  cultivated  his  farm  with  his  own 
hands.  General  Greene  was  not  only  a  farmer,  but  a 
forger  of  iron.  General  Putnam,  we  all  know,  was  a 
laborious  man,  and,  although  rough  in  manner,  was  a 
good  commander.  Once  more,  I  am  informed  that  the 
battle  of  Bennington,  which  first  checked  the  victorious 
army  of  Burgoyne,  was  fought  by  an  intrepid  band  of 
farmers.     Many  people  think  that  the  time  is  approach- 


22  MYRON    IIOLLEY. 

ing  when  the  great  cities  and  commercial  towns  of  the 
United  States  will  be  ingulfed  in  hixuiy  ;  and  inevitable 
ruin  must  ensue,  but  for  the  3'eomaniy,  who,  scattered 
over  the  country,  simple  in  their  manners  and  living, 
bold  and  hardy  from  the  habits  of  labor,  will,  it  is 
hoped,  form  a  wall  of  defence. 

My  intention,  however,  in  writing,  is  not  to  damp  the 
ardor  of  }rour  mind,  or  to  discourage  in  }'ou  that  laud- 
able ambition,  which  }*ou  so  handsomely  and  ingeniously 
distinguish  and  describe  in  your  letter  to  Milton,  but  so 
to  direct  you  that  3Tour  conduct  ma}'  not  011I3*  be  digni- 
fied, but  tempered  with  that  becoming  modesty  which 
helps  much  to  regulate  the  entrance  into  life,  and  to 
assist  in  placing  a  just  value  on  every  object.  The 
most  pleasing  thing  in  nature  must  be,  to  be  able  to 
converse  with  the  wise,  to  inform  the  ignorant,  to  pity 
and  despise  the  intriguing  villain,  and  to  compassionate 
and  assist  the  poor  and  unfortunate.* 

If  this  could  be  treasured  in  the  mind  and  heart 
of  every  young  man,  in  college  and  out,  the  world 
would  owe  more  to  Luther  Hollev  than  to  Martin 
Luther.  Such  was  the  father  of  Myron  Holley. 
The  son  lived  what  this  excellent  father  taught. 

A  picture  of  the  childhood  and  boyhood  of  My- 
ron Holley,  as  they  passed  blithely  away  in  the 


*  In  1798  Luther  Holley  resided  in  Dutchess  County,  N.Y., 
and  it  is  much  to  the  credit  of  his  fellow-citizens  there  that 
they  elected  him  to  represent  them  that  year  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  their  state. 


BIRTH    AND    EDUCATION .  23 

valley  of  the  lovely  Housatonic  and  anions;  the 
green  hills,  with  their  singing  brooks,  that  stretch 
over  to  the  Hudson,  would  be  grateful  to  the 
reader.  But  time  has  left  no  record  of  his  early 
morning.  "We  only  see  it  beaming  still  in  his 
sweet,  manly  face,  as  painted  by  Aimes.  Yet  a 
remarkable  reflection  of  it  has  been  preserved  by 
one  of  his  daughters  in  a  number  of  letters  writ- 
ten  to  him  by  four  or  five  of  his  boyish  friends 
before  he  went  to  college,  while  he  was  at  college 
in  \Villiamsto\vn,  at  the  law-school  in  Xew  Haven, 
and  in  the  office  of  Jud^e  Kent  in  Cooperstown. 

O  J- 

Never  was  a  young  man  so  worshipped  by  his  boy 
friends.  They  were  in  love  with  him.  His  father 
had  lived  a  while  at  Red  Hook,  and  afterwards 
at  Dover,  N.  Y.,  while  Myron  was  fitting  for 
college,  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  Addressed  to  him 
at  the  latter  place,  a  letter  from  a  boy  friend  in 
Red  Hook  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  way  he  was  wor- 
shipped. It  is  written  in  a  strong,  bold  hand, 
and  signed  fr  Birch." 

Red  Hook,  20th  Oct.,  '95. 

Dear  Myron,  — We  had  quite  a  dance  of  the  first 
magnitude  last  night  at  a  Mr.  Holmes's,  who  has  lately 
put  up  a  public  house  in  this  town.  There  were  Ladies 
and  Gentlemen  from  forty  and  fifty  miles  distance,  and 
all  of  the  Bean  Monde.     I  hoard  of  its  having  been  de- 


24  MYRON    IIOLLEY. 

termined  to  be  a  very  genteel  one,  and  so  I  thought  I 
would  just  walk  over  to  Moiis.  Holmes's  to  learn  polite- 
ness. There  were  a  good  man}'  of  them  ;  the  Ladies  were 
dressed  very  rich,  and  the  Gentlemen  tolerably  so.  But 
3-011  ma}'  poultice  my  eve  with  a  turnip,  if  I  thought  I 
saw  anything  terrible  in  their  manoeuvres.  I  thought  them 
nothing  but  mortals,  and  that  perhaps  one  of  them  did 
not  know  the  sweets  of  friendship  ;  so  I  walked  home 
again,  with  as  little  satisfaction  as  you  please.  Believe 
me,  Myron,  I  had  rather  have  one  squeeze  by  your  hand 
than  to  dance  fifty  times  with  all  the  high-lifed  things 
in  the  world. 

Make  my  love  to  your  brothers.  Forgive  the  maim- 
ing of  this  thing,  as  the  man  is  a  waiting  who  is  to  carry 
it. 

God  bless  you ! 

Birch. 

After   his   graduation   at  Williams   College    in 

1799,  Mvron  seems  to  have  directed  his  studies 
towards  the  law.  I  find  a  letter  addressed  to  him  by 
a  classmate,  Peter  Starr,  Jr. ,  from  Westfield,  Mass. , 
as  "  law  student  in  the  office  of  Judge  Kent,  Coop- 
erstown,  State  of  New  York,"  and  dated  June  23, 

1800.  This  long  letter  of  personal  friendship 
winds  up  with  a  glimpse  of  the  politics  of  that 
period,  which  will  have  some  interest  to  those  who 
know  what  has  been  the  political  histoiy  of  West- 
field  ever  since.  "Politicks,"  says  Mr.  Starr,  "are 
very  little  talked  of  here,  the  people  being  gener- 


BIRTH    AND    EDUCATION.  25 

ally  united.  While  Ihe  federalists  in  this  quar- 
ter stand  in  awful  dread  for  the  event  of  the  ap- 
proaehing  election  of  President  and  Viet' President, 
the  Jacobins  triumph  in  the  assurance  of  having 
Mr.  Jefferson  for  the  supreme  magistrate  of  our 
nation.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  industrious  and 
influential  Jacobins,  in  this  quarter,  as  well  as  in 
other  parts  of  the  United  States,  have  succeeded 
to  an  unparalleled  degree  in  corrupting  the  public 
mind.  Their  success  has  indeed  been  proportion- 
ate to  their  endeavors  ;  which  can  be  measured  by 
nothing  but  the  industry  of  the  devil  in  working 
the  destruction  of  the  original  parents  of  man- 
hind."  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  young 
Holley,  whatever  his  political  bias  may  have  been, 
shared  this  intensity  of  prejudice.  Possibly  he 
may  not  have  been  studying  law  at  Cooperstown 
in  1800,  for  he  says  in  a  letter  to  his  son  Samuel, 
in  1834,  speaking  of  Xew  Haven  :  :'  I  was  delight- 
ed with  seeing  it,  after  an  absence  of  thirtv-three 
years  ;  for  perhaps  you  know  that  in  my  early  man- 
hood I  lived  a  year  at  that  place,  studying  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  there  in  1801."  One 
of  his  fellow  law-students  there  was  Professor 
Benjamin  Silliman.  In  1802  he  seems  to  have 
essayed  the  practice  of  law  in  Salisbury,  his  native 


26  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

place.  But  there  he  could  not  long  have  remained, 
for  he  is  recorded  as  having  settled  in  Canandai- 
gua,  X.  Y.,  in  1803,  and  as  having  been  married 
to  Sally  House  of  that  village  in  1804. 


CAXAXDAIGUA.  27 


CHAPTER  III. 


CANANDAIGUA. 


A  more  fortunate  selection  of  locality  he  could 
not  have  made.  For  though  Canandaigua,  or 
Canadarque,  as  it  was  then  called,  was  but  an 
insignificant  village  in  the  bosom  of  a  vast  wilder- 
ness, it  had  among  its  inhabitants  a  number  of 
men  of  transcendent  ability  and  the  highest 
culture  in  the  country,  who  seem  to  have  con- 
spired to  select  for  themselves  the  best  and  most 
beautiful  spot  in  the  Empire  State.  It  was  from 
the  start  the  focus  of  intellect,  enterprise  and 
wealth  for  Western  Xew  York,  and  though  but 
ten  years  from  its  first  log  hut,*  sat,  already  look- 
ing forth  from  its  fair  gardens  over  its  crystal 
lake,   like  the    queen  it  is  ever  to   be.     But    in 

*When  Myron  Holley  settled  in  Canandaigua  before  his 
marriage,  he,  together  with  Peter  B.  Porter,  Augustus  Porter 
and  Judge  Howell,  boarded  with  a  Mrs.  Sanbourn,  who  nearly 
ten  years  earlier  had  traversed  the  wilderness  between  Utica 
and  that  place  on  horseback,  following  an  Indian  trail,  with 
no  company  but  her  infant,  which  she  carried  tied  up  in  her 
apron,  when  she  had  occasion  to  use  both  hands. 


28  MYRON   IIOLLEY. 

acquiring  young  Holley,  the  place  was  even  more 
fortunate  than  the  man.  As  Ions;  as  that  erreat 
home  of  gardens  lasts,  the  spot  on  its  broad, 
grandly  shaded,  main  street,  where  his  unpreten- 
tious home  stood,  will  be  pointed  out  with  pride 
by  every  citizen  to  every  admiring  stranger.  The 
house,  directly  opposite  the  old  Ontario  Bank,  is 
still  the  same  as  that  in  which  he  lived,  though 
its  exterior  has  been  a  little  brushed  up.  .Other 
homes  in  Canandaigua,  as  of  the  Greigs  and 
Grangers,  had  an  air  of  magnificence  without  as 
well  as  within,  as  they  still  have,  but  that  of 
Myron  Plolley  was  all  glorious  within,  in  the 
intellectual  hospitality  of  the  man  and  the  charm- 
ing presence  of  his  beautiful  wife  and  happy 
children.  The  grej-headed  men  of  the  place,  and 
of  many  others,  recount  with  delight  how  they 
spent  an  evening  with  Myron  Holley  and  listened 
to  his  wonderful  reading  and  conversation.  He 
was,  in  fact,  the  pet  artist  of  Canandaigua  in  that 
line.  Without  knowing  it,  he  seems  to  have  been 
the  founder  of  the  "  Parlor  "  as  the  school  of  civi- 
lization. 


CHOICE    OF   PURSUIT.  29 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CHOICE    OF    PURSUIT. 

The  question  arises  why  a  young  man  full  of 
natural  eloquence,  carefully  educated  to  the  law 
under  the  best  masters,  and  not  specially  enam- 
ored of  literature  as  a  profession,  should  not  have 
devoted  himself  to  the  practice  of  law.  That  he 
would  have  become  a  great  ornament  of  the  bar, 
and  still  more  of  the  bench,  is  quite  certain  from 
the  fact  that  he  was  always  resorted  to  as  an  arbi- 
trator, and  generally  proved  satisfactory  to  both 
parties.  His  commanding  presence,  wonderful 
equanimity  and.  ready  now  of  words,  seemed  to 
fix  his  destiny  for  the  legal  profession,  but  hap- 
pily for  his  country,  he  never  entered  beyond  the 
threshhold.  A  tradition,  siven  by  one  of  his 
sons,  seems  to  let  in  some  light  on  the  question  ; 
indeed,  so  much  that  I  endeavored  in  vain  to 
verify  it  by  searching  the  records  of  the  Court. 
It  may  nevertheless  be  correct,  for  the  custodian 
of  these  records  was  of  opinion  that  such  a  fact 
would  not  have  been  noticed  in  those  very  meagre 


30  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

minutes  if  it  had  occurred.  The  story  is,  that 
Mr.  Holley  was,  for  his  first  brief  in  Canandaigua, 
assigned  by  the  Court  to  defend  a  man  indicted 
for  murder.  He  visited  and  conferred  with  his 
client  in  the  jail,  and  becoming  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  his  guilt,  immediately  on  coming  into 
court  next  morning  resigned  his  brief,  and  never 
after  appeared  as  an  advocate.  However  this 
may  be,  certain  it  is  from  his  after  life,  no  man 
ever  cherished  a  pro-founder  regard  for  truth  and 
justice.  He  had  an  instinctive  aversion  to  all 
crookedness.  Whether  he  held  that  this  disquali- 
fied him  for  a  profession  in  which  nothing  is  more 
indispensable  to  pecuniary  success  than  a  faculty 
of  suppressing  the  truth  and  making  the  worse 
appear  the  better  side,  I  find  no  record.  One 
success,  as  a  lawyer,  he  had  achieved  in  his  native 
town  of  Salisbury,  Ct.,  which  is  well  worthy  of 
record  as  showing  the  character  of  the  man  and 
the  age.  On  a  mountain  over  which  passes  the 
road  leading  from  the  iron  mines  to  the  furnaces, 
lived  in  a  hut  by  himself  a  solitary  wood-chopper 
who  had  acquired  the  reputation,  not  so  uncom- 
mon in  that  day,  of  a  wizard.  He  was  supposed 
to  have  power  over  the  teams  that  hauled  the  ore 
across  the  mountain.     Heavy  loads  and  bad  roads 


CHOICE   OF   PURSUIT.  31 

were  not  sufficient  in  the  minds  of  the  drivers  to 
account  for  the  balkiness  of  the  horses,  and  the 
poor  old  wood-chopper  had  to  bear  the  blame  and 
the  curses.  One  day  a  stalwart  Dutchman,  whose 
team  stopped  half-way  up  and  refused  to  stir, 
determined  to  try  what  he  had  heard  to  be  a  sov- 
ereign charm  or  exorcism  in  such  cases,  to  wit,  to 
draw  blood  on  the  wizard.  So  ascending  the 
mountain  he  seized  the  poor  man  and  with  his 
jack-knife  cut  a  frightful  gash  across  his  fore- 
head, and  left  him  bleeding.  .  Returning  to  his 
horses,  which  by  this  time  had  rested  themselves, 
he  was  confirmed  in  his  superstition  by  their 
readily  taking  the  load  up  the  hill.  Young  law- 
yer Holley  brought  an  action  for  damages  against 
the  Dutchman  and  obtained  judgment  in  favor  of 
the  innocent  wood-chopper. 

Having  given  up  the  practice  of  the  law,  without 
much  loss  of  time  he  married,  bought  the  stock 
of  a  bookseller  named  Bemis,  became  the  literary 
purveyor  of  the  county  town  and  surrounding 
country,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  creation  of  a 
happy  home.  His  books,  his  garden  and  his 
children  occupied  his  time.  For  about  four  years, 
between  1810  and  1814,  he  was  County  Clerk, 
and  the  voluminous  records  of  the  titles  of  real 


32  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

estate  in  his  faultless  manuscript  attest  his  in- 
dustry.  The  years  1812  and  1813  were^very 
gloomy  for  the  people  of  the  lake  frontier,  for  the 
war  had  burst  upon  them  entirely  unprepared. 
What  they  suffered  is  well  set  forth  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  DeTTitt  Clinton,  then  mayor  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  to  Col.  Robert  Troup, 
Gen.  Clarkson,  John  B.  Coles,  Thos.  Morris, 
Moses  Rogers,  Robert  BoWne  and  Thos.  Edcbv, 
distinguished  citizens.  It  was  written  by  Myron 
Holley,  and  because  it  is  highly  characteristic  of 
him,  and  of  the  situation  of  the  country  immedi- 
ately before  his  grand  public  life  commenced,  I 
give  it  here  entire.  It  had  an  immediate  effect, 
not  only  in  calling  forth  large  private  donations, 
but  $3,000  from  the  city,  and  $50,000  from  the 
state. 

Canaxdaigua,  8th  January,  1S14. 

Gentlemen,  —  Niagara  count}',  and  that  part  of 
Genesee  which  lies  west  of  Batavia,  are  completely  de- 
populated. All  the  settlements,  in  a  section  of  country 
forty  miles  square,  and  which  contained  more  than 
twelve  thousand  souls,  are  effectually  broken  up.  These 
facts  }'ou  are  undoubtedly  acquainted  with,  but  the  dis- 
tresses they  have  produced,  none  but  an  e3~e-witness  can 
thoroughly  appreciate.  Our  roads  are  filled  with  peo- 
ple, man}'  of  whom  have  been  reduced  from  a  state  of 
competence  and  good  prospects  to  the  last  degree  of 
want  and  sorrow.     So  sudden  was  the  blow  by  which 


CHOICE    OF    PURSUIT.  33 

they  have  been  crushed,  that  no  provision  could  be 
made  either  to  elude  or  to  meet  it.  The  fugitives  from 
Niagara  county  especially  were  dispersed  under  cir- 
cumstances of  so  much  terror,  that,  in  some  cases, 
mothers  find  themselves  wandering  with  strange  child- 
ren, and  children  are  seen  accompanied  by  such  as 
have  no  other  sympathies  with  them  than  those  of  com- 
mon sufferings.  Of  the  families  thus  separated  all  the 
members  can  never  again  meet  in  this  life,  for  the  same 
violence  which  has  made  them  beggars,  has  deprived 
some  of  their  heads  and  others  of  their  branches.  Af- 
flictions of  the  mind,  so  deep  as  have  been  allotted  to 
these  unhappy  people,  we  cannot  cure.  They  can  pro- 
bably lie  subdued  only  by  His  power  who  can  wipe 
away  all  tears.  But  shall  we  not  endeavor  to  assuage 
them?  To  their  bodily  wants  we  can  certainly  ad- 
minister. The  inhabitants  of  Canandaimia  have  made 
large  contributions  for  their  relief,  in  provisions,  cloth- 
ing, and  money.  And  we  have  been  appointed,  among 
other  things,  to  solicit  further  relief  for  them  from  our 
wealth}'  and  liberal-minded  fellow-citizens.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  appointment,  ma}'  we  ask  you,  gentle- 
men, to  interest  3'ourselves  particularly  in  their  behalf  ? 
We  believe  that  no  occasion  has  ever  occurred  in  our 
country  which  presented  stronger  claims  upon  indivi- 
dual benevolence,  and  we  humblv  trust  that  whoever  is 
willing;  to  answer  these  claims  will  always  entitle  him- 
self  to  the  precious  rewards  of  active  charity. 

Signed,         Wm.   Shepard,  Thad.  Ciiapix, 

Moses  Atwater,         X.   Goriiam. 
Z.  Seymour,  Teos.  Seals, 

Myron  Holley,  Phixeas  P.  Bates. 

Committee  of  Safety  and  Belief. 


34  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

Iii  1816  his  fellow-citizens  had  the  wisdom  to 
discover  his  fitness  for  vastly  more  difficult  duties, 
and  from  that  date  the  materials  for  his  biography 
are  only  too  abundant,  for  the}"  include  a  great 
deal  of  the  history  of  the  country  for  thirty-five 
years. 

Of  the  previous  tAvelve  years  of  his  life,  there 
would  not  have  been  left  a  vestige  at  this  day,  but 
for  the  remarkable  fact  that  in  his  lon£  absences 
from  home,  while  on  public  business,  he  carried 
his  family  in  his  heart,  and  at  a  time  when  mails 
were  few  and  expensive,  deluged  his  children  with 
letters,  many  of  which  a  heroic  daughter  has  piously 
preserved.  A  man  of  extensive  reading,  excel- 
lent taste,  and  the  most  fascinating  conversational 
powers,  he  was  by  no  means  an  artistic  writer. 
Like  all  other  natural  orators,  his  eloquence  on 
paper  is  rather  long-winded,  or  at  any  rate,  its  wit 
does  not  consist  in  its  brevity.  There  is  clear  day- 
light, no  clouds,  no  lightning,  no  fog.  He  is  all 
the  while  turning  his  soul  wrong  side  out,  and 
there  is  a  vast  deal  of  it.  He  is  never  ambitious  to 
make  you  admire  himself,  but  to  make  you  under- 
stand his  subject.  He  is  no  iconoclast,  no  grum- 
bler, no  detractor,  but  wide,  genial,  hopefully  pro- 
gressive,  sympathetic  with   all,  yet  marching  in 


CHOICE    OF   PURSUIT.  35 

the  front  rank  with  the  best.  The  front  rank  at 
that  day,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  not  far  in 
advance  of  the  mass.  Where  he  stood  almost 
alone  in  1840,  millions  stand  now. 


36  MYRON   HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MARRIAGE. 


It  was  on  the  4th  of  December,  1804,  that  Mr. 
Holley,  then  twenty- five  years  and  eight  months 
of  age,  was  married  by  Rev.  Timothy  Field,  the 
first  Congregational  minister  of  Canandaigua,  to 
Sally  House,  the  daughter  of  Capt.  John  House, 
one  of  the  earlier  settlers  of  the  place.  She  was 
a  remarkably  comely  and  well-developed  person, 
eighteen  years  and  four  months  of  age,  having 
been  born  in  Schenectady  in  1786.  Her  father 
was  one  of  the  patriots  who  volunteered  to  serve 
his  country  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  fell  at  last  in 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  fiaflitinsr  under  General 
Jackson.  She  was  a  Methodist  in  her  religious 
faith,  and  so  continued  till  she  died  at  Buffalo  in 
1868,  aged  82.  That  Mr.  Holley  had  no  reason 
to  regret  his  choice,  is  quite  certain,  for  she  made 
him  the  father  of  six  daughters  and  six  sons,  and 
in  the  darkest  hour  of  his  adversity,  twenty  years 
after  their  marriage,  he  addressed  to  her  the  fol- 


MARRIAGE .  3  7 

lowing  lines  on  the  occasion  of  his  leaving  home 
for  Albany.  It  is  almost  the  onlv  time  we  find 
him  indulging  in  verse,  and  as  it  was  onlv  for 
her,  the  critic  has  no  business  with  it.  But  here 
is  the  heart  of  the  man  at  a  time  when  he  had 
given  the  Empire  State  its  Erie  Canal,  and  made 
himself  poor  by  it :  — 

"  For  thee,  dear  wife,  as  age  advances, 

Affection's  light  still  cheers  my  heart, 
And  twenty  years  with  thee  enhances 

My  bosom's  pain  whene'er  we  part. 
T\  nen  first  in  youth  thy  pleasing  form 

Filled  all  my  soul  with  fond  desire, 
And  holiest  vows  had  lent  their  charm 

To  cherish  love's  unceasing  fire, 
'Twas  then  the  joy  that  filled  thine  eye, 

The  roseate  hue  upon  thy  cheek, 
The  auburn  curls  that  waving  high 

Thy  polished  forehead  did  bedeck, — 
'Twas  thy  soft  smile  and  winning  air, 

The  dance  alert  and  figure's  grace 
Which  made  me  hold  thee  dearer  far 

Than  all  things  else  in  time's  long  race. 
But  all  these  charms  may  fade  away. 

Thy  eye  may  sink,  thy  cheek  turn  pale, 
Thy  locks  may  bleach,  thy  limbs  decay, 

And  asre  thv  figure's  graces  steal. 
Still  thou  wilt  be  more  dear  to  me 

Than  all  these  causes  e'er  would  prove  thee, 
For  all  thy  truth,  from  youth  to  age, 

Compels  me  more  and  more  to  love  thee." 

The  beauty  of  Miss  House  had,  in  fact,  turned 
the  heads  of  most  of  the  young  men  in   Canan- 


38  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

daigua  and  thereabout,  and  it  was  a  very  happy 
thinsr  for  her  that  she  found  a  husband  who  could 
see  and  appreciate  the  sterling  worth  that  lay 
beneath  it,  and  by  his  own  abundant  culture 
supply  her  lack  of  it. 


CHURCH    COXXECTIOX.  39 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CHURCH    COXXECTIOX. 


Mybon  Hollev,  without  a  particle  of  bigotry, 
was  always  religious,  in  the  higher  and  better 
sense  of  tiiat  word.  He  had  a  profound  reverence 
for  human  nature,  and  an  intense  desire  to  pro- 
mote the  dignity  and  happiness  of  the  race. 
Socially  attractive,  he  seems  to  have  drawn  the 
religious  people  of  his  day  in  Cananduigua  up  to 
himself  rather  than  to  have  been  drawn  down  to 
them.  Bv  the  records  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  I  find  that  he,  with  his  mother-in-law, 
Elizabeth  House,  joined  that  body  April  30,  1815, 
and  that  they  with  six  of  his  children  were  bap- 
tized that  «day.  Some  of  the  present  members  of 
that  church,  when  inquired  of  as  to  his  religious 
views,  said  he  was  a  Unitarian,  and  others  said  he 
was  a  Universalist,  but  all  expressed  their  sur- 
prise at  the  fact  above  stated,  and  some  their 
incredulity.  The  sequel  will  explain  this  curious 
phenomenon. 


40  MYROX  HOLLEY. 

Eeligious  or  rather  denominational  prejudices 
fade  with  exceeding  slowness,  but  they  do  fade* 
Religious  tolerance  was  considered  almost  a  crime 
by  most  people  in  the  first  two  decades  of  this 
century,  no  matter  how  religious  or  useful  the  per- 
son might  be  who  indulged  in  it.  Elkanah  Wat- 
son,  the  founder  of  the  Berkshire  Agricultural 
Society,  and  who  began  agricultural  shows  in  1807 
by  exhibiting  two  merino  sheep,  shocked  a  great 
many  good  people  and  earned  hard  epithets,  by 
the  following  passage  in  his  agricultural  address, 
delivered  Sept.  24,  1811  : 

"It  is  as  ridiculous,  as  impertinent,  for  a  man  to 
quarrel  with  another  for  not  thinking  as  he  thinks,  as  for 
not  looking  as  he  looks.  Two  centuries  ago  Europe 
was  deluged  in  blood,  on  the  score  of  religious  intoler- 
ance. 

In  these  enlightened  days,  as  we  are  pleased  to  call 
them,  we  look  back  with  astonishment  and  disgust  at 
the  folly  of  men  in  those  days.  Will  not  our  descend- 
ants have  equal  cause  to  regret  the  folly  of  the  present 
age  ?  How  can  we  Americans  boast  of  our  freedom, 
when  we  are  all  combined  to  enslave  each  other's  opin- 
ions,—  whereas  the  freedom  of  the  mind  is  the  most 
powerful  attribute  of  freemen,  and  the  most  valuable 
prerogative  of  human  nature.' 


» 


EKIE    CANAL.  41 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ERIE    CANAL. 


Thus  in  accord  with  the  influential  society  in 
which  he  lived,  and  in  reality  its  favorite,  when 
Canandaigua  wished  to  do  its  utmost  to  promote 
the  great  enterprise  of  connecting  Lake  Erie  with 
the  Hudson  River  by  a  canal,  it  sent  him,  then  in 
the  prime  of  his  manhood,  at  the  age  of  37,  to 
represent  it  in  the  General  Assembly  at  Albany, 
in  1816. 

With  the  present  means  of  locomotion  and  trans- 
portation, the  Erie  Canal  has  almost  dropped  out 
of  sight.  If  you  spin  through  the  State  of  Xew 
York  in  an  express  train,  by  daylight,  you  see 
large  barges,  seeming  stationary,  in  a  meadow. 
Otherwise  you  see  nothing  of  an  achievement  which 
half  a  century  ago  was  the  pride  of  America,  and 
the  envy  of  Europe.  But  to  appreciate  the  tri- 
umph of  its  accomplishment  you  must  conceive  of 
the  American  wilderness  as  it  existed  up  to  1816  ; 
you  must  conceive  of  the  general  poverty  and  bit- 


42  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

ter  political  strife  of  that  era,  and  in  fact  you  must 
have  traversed  the  State  of  New  York  in  a  canal 
packet  after  having  made  the  journey  repeatedly 
through  mud  so  execrable  as  to  make  the  prehis- 
toric corduroy  bridges  of  round  logs  laid  side  by 
side  in  the  mud,  a  relief.  In  those  daj's  there 
were  but  two  ways  fen*  New  Englanders  to  get  into 
the  great  wilderness  of  Ohio.  One  was  over  the 
Pennsylvania  mountains,  by  the  most  ridiculous 
apology  for  a  road,  the  other  was  through  the 
swamps  of  New  York  and  along  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Erie.  Either  took  a  pilgrimage  of 
about  forty  days,  and  never  a  family  but  had  acci- 
dents by  precipice,  mud  or  flood  to  recount  for 
years  afterward  in  its  log  cabin.  In  comparison 
with  this,  either  as  to  danger,  toil,  or  expense, 
emigration  to  the  states  west  of  the  Mississippi 
to-day  is  nothing.  Then  all  the  roads  in  the  new 
countries  were  Indian  trails  without  bridges. 
Emigrants  Avith  wagons  had  often  to  cut  their  way 
through  the  woods,  by  the  pocket  compass  for  the 
last  day  or  two.  At  the  rate  the  great  wilderness 
was  settling  previous  to  the  opening  of  the  canal, 
it  would  have  been  mostly  a  wilderness  to  this  clay, 
for  as  soon  as  his  new  farm  yielded  a  surplus,  the 
farmer  discovered  the  impossibility  of  getting  it  to 


ERIE    CANAL.  43 

market.  The  vast  region  of  the  upper  lakes*  was 
cut  off  from  the  sea  coast  by  the  sublime  cataract 
of  Niagara,  and  Mr.  Gccldes,  the  first  canal  sur- 
veyor,  incredible  as  it  may  seem,  found  no  wagon- 
road  from  one  lake  to  the  other  on  American 
soil. 

Up  to  1816  the  353  miles  between  the  Hudson 
and  Lake  Erie,  stretched  through  a  wilderness 
largely  of  swamps,  with  only  here  and  there  a  vil- 
lage. Where  the  great  and  splendid  cities  of  Syra- 
cuse and  Eochester  are  now,  bears  and  wolves 
were  more  at  home  than  men.  Emigrant  families 
were  toiling  laboriously  with  ox-teams  along  the 
rough,  miry,  and  wild  roads,  bound  for  the 
country  south  of  Lake  Erie ,  in  the  face  of  re  mi- 
grants,   shaking   with    ague,    and    looking    like 

ghosts. 

Doubtless   enthusiastic  travelers  had  dreamed, 

even  before  the  revolution,  of  peopling  the  inte- 
rior of  the  continent.  But  the  beginnings  were 
exceedingly  small,  and  the  progress  hardly  ex- 
ceeded the  regress.  As  long  ago  as  1784  one 
Christopher  Colles  memorialized  the  Xew  York 
legislature  for  the  removal  of  obstructions  to  the 
navigation  of  the  Mohawk.  A  committee  to  which 
his  memorial  was  referred  reported  that  if  Colles 


44  MY£ON   HOLLEY. 

would  undertake  it  himself,  he  and  his  assigns 
should  be  allowed  to  take  toll,  but  the  State 
should  be  at  no  expense.  No  Act  passed.  Colles 
applied  again  in  1785  and  got  an  appropriation  of 
$125  (!)  to  enable  him  to  make  an  f  essay  '  and 
report  his  success  to  the  next  legislature.  He  re- 
ported in  1786,  but  nothing  was  done  and  Colles 
subsided.  After  a  silence  of  live  years  Gov.  Clin- 
ton [not  De  Witt,  but  his  uncle,]  brought  up  the 
subject,  and  an  appropriation  of  $250  was  made, 
and  the  Land  Commissioners  were  authorized  and 
instructed  to  make  surveys  of  the  Mohawk  and 
Wood  Creek.  From  this  resulted  a  company 
which  slightly  improved  the  navigation  of  the 
Mohawk,  locking  around  Little  Falls  and  connect- 
ing that  river  with  Wood  Creek  by  a  canal, 
through  which  boats  could  pass  into  Oneida  Lake, 
and  down  its  outlet  to  the  Oswego  River  which 
falls  into  Lake  Ontario,  but  is  too  rapid  fur  navi- 
gation. The  improvement  enabled  the  boats  to 
ascend  the  Seneca  River  into  Cayuga  and  Seneca 
Lakes. 

With  this  improvement  the  great  idea  of  con- 
necting Eric  with  the  Hudson,*  if  it  existed  at  all, 

*  The  dream  of  a  river  running  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hud- 
son is  said  to  have  existed  in  the  brain  of  Gouverneur  Morris, 


ERIE    CANAL.  45 

slept  in  embryo  till  1807  or  8,  when  Jesse  Haw- 
ley,  an  enterprising  Yankee,  who  as  the  fashion 
was  in  that  day  had  contrived  to  get  himself  into 
jail  in  Ontario  County  as  a  debtor,  and  lived  out 
on  the  "jail  limits,"  very  distinctly  set  it  forth  in 
a  stirring  pamphlet  and  communications  to  the 
newspapers.  The  grand  idea,  coming  from  such 
a  source,  perhaps  aroused  more  prejudice  than 
favor.  But  it  pleased  Gouverneur  Morris,  and 
possibly  awakened  De  Witt  Clinton.  The  former, 
with  great  political  ability,  was  a  magnificent 
dreamer,  and  among  his  dreams  was  that  of 
connecting  Lake  Erie  with  the  sea-board  by 
an  artificial  river,  running  down  a  gently  in- 
clined plane,  without  a  lock  !  The  latter  was  a 
born  politician  of  the  most  pronounced  type,  an 
aristocratic  democrat.  Inheriting  wealth  and  dis- 
tinction  he  hated  the  federalists  of  his  day  with  a 
perfect  hatred.  And  yet  he  was  destined  to  come 
in  conflict,  practically,  with  his   own  party  in  its 

even  in  his  waking  moments,  as  early  as  1802.  It  can  hardly 
be  called  an  idea.  He  was  a  very  pleasant  gentleman  and  a 
fine  scholar,  dressing  also  in  powdered  wig,  small-clothes  and 
knee-buckles,  and  probably  thought  it  as  easy  for  water  to  run 
up  hill  as  down,  or  at  any  rate  that  labor  enough  could  keep 
it  from  running  to   Montreal.      When  the   canal   is   again 


enlarged  it  will  be  as  good  as  a  "  river." 


46  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

hour  of  victory.  Neither  side  ever  gave  him  a 
support  suited  to  his  ambition.  This  caused  him 
to  retire  from  politics  in  disgust,  and  he  is  said  to 
have  fallen  almost  a  hopeless  victim  to  the  god  of 
the  vineyard,  when  some  of  his  personal  friends, 
in  the  hope  of  rousing  him  to  manhood,  sug- 
gested that  he  should  make  himself  the  leader  of 
the  great  scheme  so  attractively  set  forth  by  the 
impecunious  debtor  of  Ontario  County.  Exceed- 
ingly fortunate  this  for  New  York  on  many  ac- 
counts. With  talents  and  culture  fit  to  have  made 
him  one  of  the  grandest  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  De  Witt  Clinton  was  reserved  for  some- 
thing more  important.  He  seized  the  new  oppor- 
tunity. The  great  State  of  New  York  began  now, 
as  if  an  inspiration  had  struck  it,  to  act  in  earnest, 
though  it  relied  almost  wholly  on  the  Federal 
Government  to  provide  the  requisite  funds.  It  is 
needless  to  detail  the  efforts  it  made  to  interest  Con- 
gress in  the  matter.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  hopeless.  Besides  the  natural  jealousy  of 
rival  states,  there  was  the  bitter  feud  of  factions 
and  the  struggle  for  sailors'  rights  which  was  soon 

Go  © 

to  culminate  in  the  war  of  1812.  The  nation  was 
then  poorer  than  any  state,  and  to  have  helped  the 
richest  of  the  old  states  to  an  advantage  over  the 


ERIE    CAXAL.  47 

rest,  would  have  been  a  miracle  of  magnanimity. 
If  there  had  been  any  national  action  then,  it 
would  have  been  exactly  in  the  wrong  direction. 
The  same  opposing  forces,  only  a  little  less  in- 
tense, existed  in  the  State  of  Xew  York  itself,  so 
that  all  that  could  be  done  before  the  war  came  to 
suspend  action  altogether,  was  to  appropriate 
$600  for  a  survey  in  1808,  and  appoint  a  board  of 
commissioners  to  make  more  thorough  explora- 
tion in  1810.  Mr.  James  Geddes,  a  very  thorough 
and  painstaking  engineer,  went  over  the  route  in 
1808  and  made  so  favorable  a  report  to  Simeon 
De  Witt,  the  Surveyor  General,  that  he  was 
allowed  75  dollars  beyond  the  appropriation  for 
his  labor,  all  of  which  he  certainlv  earned  and 
much  more.  Mr.  Geddes  of  course  did  not  find 
any  such  state  of  the  surface  as  would  allow  the 
dream  of  Gouverneur  Morris  to  be  realized,  but  he 
did  find,  to  his  intense  delight,  a  singular  provis- 
ion of  nature  to  aid  in  carrying  the  intended  canal 
over  the  deep  valley  of  the  Irondequot  without 
locking  down,  only  to  lock  up  again.  An  enor- 
mous natural  embankment,  almost  complete  and 
just  where  it  was  needed,  he  looked  upon  as  an  in- 
terposition of  Divine  Providence  in  favor  of  the 
undertaking,  though  he  confessed  that  when  he 


48  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

made  the  discovery  he  little  expected  to  live  to 
see  boats  running  on  the  top  of  that  embankment. 
It  was  as  if  he  had  discovered  the  ruins  of  an 
ancient  canal  which  was  waiting  to  be  repaired. 


EXPLORATION   OF    1810.  49 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

EXPLORATION    OF     1810. 

The  Board  of  Commissioners  appointed  in  1810 
consisted  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer,  De  Witt  Clinton,  Simeon  De  Witt, 
William  North,  Thomas  Eddy  and  Peter  B. 
Porter.  They  were  instructed  to  explore  the 
route  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Erie,  examine  the 
navigation  and  make  such  surveys  as  they  should 
think  proper,  and  report  in  regard  to  further 
improvements.  Nothing  beyond  exploration  re- 
sulted, and  the  war  so  set  everything  back  that 
even  the  exploration  had  to  be  done  over  in  1816. 
But  of  this  first  exploration  De  Witt  Clinton  kept 
a  careful  private  diary,  which  was  not  published 
till  1849.  It  o-ives  a  better  idea  of  the  nature  of 
the  enterprise  and  the  situation  when  Myron 
Holley  devoted  himself  to  its  practical  accom- 
plishment, than  can  be  found  elsewhere. 

It  is  impossible  to  set  forth  the  work  done  by 
any   great   man  of  the  past  without  taking  into 


50  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

view  the  obstacles  he  overcame  and  the  people 
anions  whom  he  worked,  so  I  shall  make  no 
excuse  for  quoting  largely  from  Mr.  Clinton's  racy 
diary  of  this  exploring  expedition.  His  brief  and 
pithy  notes,  jotted  down  as  he  went  along,  do 
great  credit  to  him  as  a  careful  and  comprehensive 
observer,  and  it  is  a  pity  he  did  not  in  his  lifetime 
publish  in  full  all  that  he  saw  and  thought  on  that 
interesting  trip. 

On  Saturday,  June  30,  1810,  Mr.  Clinton  left 
New  York  city  on  board  a  steamboat  —  of  which 
there  were  then  only  six  in  North  America  —  and 
arrived  in  Albany  Monday  morning,  July  2.  The 
Commissioners  met  there  that  day.  Morris  and 
Van  Rensselaer  concluded  to  go  by  land  ;  the  other 
four  as  much  as  possible  by  water. 

Under  date  of  July  2  the  journal  says  :  —  "  We 
employed  ourselves  in  laying  up  the  necessary 
stores  for  our  voyage,  having  previously  drawn 
from  the  Treasury  $1,500  in  favor  of  Mr.  Eddy. 
A  mattrass,  blanket  and  pillow  were  purchased 
for  each  Commissioner ;  but  we  unfortunately 
neglected  to  provide  ourselves  with  marquees  and 
camp-stools,  the  want  of  which  was  sensibly  felt." 

The   following  extracts  from  the  178  pages  of 
this  journal,  covering  the  time  to  Aug.  23,  when 


EXPLORATION    OF    1810.  51 

Mr.  Clinton  returned  to  New  York,  will  serve, 
perhaps,  better  than  any  condensation  of  it,  to 
show  the  character  of  the  country  and  its  popula- 
tion at  that  period  : 

"  On  the  3d  Jul}'  we  set  out  in  carriages  for  Schenec- 
tady,  and  put  up  at  Powell's  hotel.  We  found  that  Mr. 
Eddy  bad  neglected  to  give  directions  about  providing 
boats,  and  that  Mr.  Walton,  the  undertaker,  who  is 
extensively  engaged  in  transporting  commodities  and 
merchandise  up  and  down  the  river,  had  notice  of  our 
wishes  only  yesterday.  He  was  very  busy  in  making 
the  requisite  preparations.  He  had  purchased  a 
batteaux  [what  French  !]  and  had  hired  another  for 
our  baggage.  It  being  necessary  to  caulk  and  new 
paint  the  boats,  —  to  erect  an  awning  against  the  rain 
and  sun,  and  to  prepare  a  new  set  of  sails,  we  had  no 
very  sanguine  hope  of  gratifying  our  earnest  desire  to 
depart  in  the  morning,  although  we  exerted  every  nerve 
to  effect  it. 

"  July  4th.  On  consulting  with  Mr.  Walton  about 
our  departure,  he  informed  us  that  this  being  a  day  of 
great  festivity,  it  would  be  almost  impracticable  to  drag 
the  men  away.  We  saw  some  of  them  and  found  them 
willing  to  embark  as  soon  as  the  boats  were  read}',  and 
we  therefore  pressed  the  workmen  with  great  assiduity. 

"The  true  reason  of  this  anxiety,  was  the  dulness 
of  the  place.  Imagine  yourself  in  a  large  country 
village,  without  any  particular  acquaintance,  and  desti- 
tute of  books,  and  you  will  appreciate  our  situation. 
Schenactady,  although  dignified  with  the  name  of  a 
city,  is  a  place  of  little  business.     It  has  a   Bank,  a 


52  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

College,  and  a  Court  House,  and  a  considerable  deal  of 
trade  is  carried  on  through  the  Mohawk ;  and  all  the 
roads  which  pass  to  the  westward  on  the  banks  of  that 
river  necessarily  go  through  this  place.  A  great  portion 
of  the  crowd  that  visit  the  mineral  springs  at  Ballston 
and  Saratoga  also  visit  Schenactad}*.  "With  all  these 
advantages  it  does  not  appear  pleasing,  and  we  en- 
deavoured to  fill  up  the  gloomy  interval  between  this 
time  and  our  departure,  l>y  viewing  the  pageantry  which 
generally  attends  this  da}'. 

' '  There  were  two  celebrations  and  two  sets  of 
orators  —  one  by  the  city  and  one  by  the  college. 
The  feuds  between  the  burghers  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, and  the  students  of  those  Universities,  appear 
to  be  acted  over  here.  In  the  procession  of  the  stu- 
dents, we  saw  a  Washington  Benevolent  Society,  re- 
markable neither  for  numbers  nor  respectability.  The 
President  was  a  Scotchman,  of  the  name  of  Murdoch, 
and  certainly  not  a  warm  Whig  during  the  war." 

' '  On  receiving  information  that  our  batteaux  were 
read}',  we  embarked  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Our 
boat  was  covered  with  a  handsome  awning  and  curtains 
and  well  provided  with  seats.  The  Commissioners  who 
embarked  in  it,  were  De  Witt,  Eddy,  Porter  and  myself; 
and  the  three  young  gentlemen  before  mentioned  also 
accompanied  us.  The  Captain's  name  was  Thomas  B. 
Clench,  and  we  were  provided  with  three  men,  Free 
man,  Van  Ingen,  and  Van  Sl}Tck.  In  our  consort  were 
the  captain,  named  Clark,  three  hands,  three  servants 
and  about  a  ton  and  a  half  of  baggage  and  provisions. 
We  called,  ludicrously  at  first,  our  vessel  the  Eddy,  and 
the  baggage  boat  the  Morris.  What  was  jest  became 
serious,  and  when  our  batteaux  were  painted  at  Utica, 


EXPLORATION   OF    1810.  53 

thes.e  names  were  doubly  inscribed  on  the  sterns  in 
legible  character-. 

"  A  crowd  of  people  attended  us  at  our  embarkation, 
who  gave  us  three  parting  cheers.  The  wind  was  fair, 
and  with  our  handsome  awning,  nasf  flying,  and  larsre 
sail,  followed  by  another  boat,  we  made  no  disreputable 
appearance.  We  discovered  that  our  mast  was  too 
high,  and  our  boat  being  without  much  ballast,  we  were 
not  well  calculated  to  encounter  heavy  and  sudden  gusts. 
These  boats  are  not  sufficiently  safe  for  lake  navigation, 
although  thev  freouentlv  venture.  A  boat  went  from 
this  place  to  the  Missouri  in  six  weeks.  The  river  was 
uncommonlv  low.  Goods  to  the  value  of  850,000  were 
detained  in  Walton's  warehouses,  on  account  of  the  dif- 
ficulty of  transportation.  After  sailing  a  couple  of  miles 
a  bend  of  the  river  brought  the  wind  in  our  faces.  Our 
men  took  to  their  poles,  and  pushed  us  up  against  a 
rapid  current  with  great  dexterity,  and  great  muscular 
exertion.  The  approach  of  evening,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  sending  back  to  Schenactady  for  some  things 
that  were  left,  induced  us  to  come  to  for  the  night  at 
Willard's  tavern,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  and 
three  miles  from  the  place  of  departure. 

•  •  This  tavern  is  in  the  3d  ward  of  the  citv  of  Schen- 
actady.  In  the  election  of  1809,  the  first  after  the 
establishment  of  the  county,  a  great  disproportion  was 
discovered  between  the  Senatorial  and  Assembly  votes, 
which  could  not  be  accounted  for  on  fair  principles.  A 
greater  number  of  persons  testified  that  thev  had  voted 
for  the  Republican  candidates,  than  there  were  ballots 
in  the  box  ;  and  there  could  not  be  the  least  doubt,  but 
that  Republican  tickets  had  been  taken  from  the  box. 
and  Federal  ones  substituted.     This  tavern  was  located 


54  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

as  the  scene  of  the  fraud.  The  boxes  were  kept  here 
one  night,  and,  it  is  said,  locked  up  in  a  bureau,  left 
there  for  the  express  purpose,  as  is  supposed.  The 
tavern-keeper  and  some  other  accomplices  perpetrated 
the  atrocious  deed.  The  present  incumbent  looks  as  if 
he  were  capable  of  any  iniquity  of  the  kind." 

"  The  south  road  leads  in  front  of  the  house.  While 
here,  we  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  pernicious 
effects  of  these  festivals,  in  the  crowds  of  drunken, 
quarrelsome  people,  who  passed  by.  Among  other  dis- 
gusting scenes,  we  saw  several  young  men  riding  Jehu- 
like to  the  tavern,  in  a  high  state  of  intoxication,  and 
their  leader  swinging  his  hat,  and  shouting  '  Success  to 
Federalism.'  A  simple  fellow  handed  me  a  hand-bill 
containing  the  arrangements  for  the  procession,  and 
was  progressing  in  his  familiarities  with  the  rest  of  the 
company,  when  he  was  called  off  by  the  landlord,  who, 
in  a  stern  voice,  said,  '  Come  away,  Dickup  ; '  and  poor 
Dickup,  alias  thick  head,  immediately  obeyed." 

So  this  charming  explorer  and  representative 
American  goes  on,  giving  bits  of  history  on  every 
old  house  he  passed,  noticing  the  larvae  of  bees  in 
the  dried  mullen  stalks,  and  the  muscle  shells  on 
the  banks  of  the  river.  Under  date  of  July  7th 
he  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  literature  of  the  day, 
just  springing  up  under  freedom  of  the  press. 
They  started  that  morning  at  five  o'clock,  and  to 
facilitate  the  passage  of  their  boats  up  a  difficult 
rapid,  they  ivalked  on  shore  a  mile  and  a  half. 
After  getting  on  board  he  says  :  — 


EXPLORATION    OF    1810.  55 

"  In  order  to  furnish  as  much  amusement  as  possible, 
we  put  our  books  into  a  common  stock,  or  rather  into  a 
trunk,  and  appointed  one  of  the  young  gentlemen 
keeper  of  the  library.  The  books,  which  were  most 
extraordinary,  were  a  Treatise  on  Magic,  by  Quitman 
(this  I  purchased  at  Albany),  and  a  pamphlet  on 
Religion,  by  Mr.  I).  L.  Dodge,  a  respectable  merchant 
in  New  York,  with  an  answer  by  a  Clergyman  (these 
were  furnished  by  Mr.  Eddy.)  Quitman's  Treatise  is  a 
labored  argument  against  magicians,  and  to  disprove 
their  existence.  Dodge's  work  is  principally  levelled 
against  war.  breathes  a  fanatical  spirit,  and  is  complete- 
ly refuted  by  the  adversary's  pamphlet.  As  a  speci- 
men of  his  reasoning  take  the  following  :  —  'If  a  good 
man  does  not  resist  an  assailant  and  submits  to  be 
killed,  he  will  go  to  heaven.  On  the  contrarv.  if  he 
kills  the  assailant,  he  may  probably  send  a  soul  to  hell, 
which  if  spared,  may  be  converted  and  saved  to  life 
everlasting.'  Dodge's  pamphlet,  weak  as  it  is,  has 
given  him  a  great  name  among  the  Quakers ;  and, 
through  their  recommendation,  he  is  now  a  trustee  of 
the  New  York  Free  School." 

This  honest  confession  by  De  Witt  Clinton  of 
the  weakness  of  ''  Dodge's  pamphlet ;*  reads 
strangely  by  the  side  of  his  own  Address  at  the 
Anniversary  of  the  Bible  Society  in  1823.  In 
that  address,  to  be  sure,  he  only  hypothetic-ally 
admits  that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God. 
But  with  all  the  eloquence  of  which  he  was  master 
—  and  he  was  master  of  much  —  he  contends  that 


56  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

the  belief  of  the  future  heaven  and  hell  is  the 
foundation  of  good  government.  For  example, 
he  says  :  — 

"  The  codes  of  men  and  the  laws  of  opinion  derive 
a  great  portion  of  their  weight  from  the  influence  of  a 
future  world.  Justice  cannot  be  administered  without 
the  sanctitj-  of  truth  ,  and  the  great  security  'against 
perjury  is  the  amenability  of  another  state.  The 
sanctions  of  religion  compose  the  foundations  of  good 
government ;  and  the  ethics,  doctrines,  and  examples 
furnished  by  Christianity  exhibit  the  best  models  for 
the  laws  of  opinion." 

Mr.  Clinton  here  plainly  assumes  the  "ethics" 
and  ''doctrines  "  of  Christianity  to  be  inseparable, 
and  unless  his  views  of  the  latter  had  changed 
since  1810,  he  was  telling  the  Bible  Society  that 
false  doctrines  are  essential  to  good  government. 
If  he  had  lived  till  to-day,  he  would  probably 
have  discovered  that  the  doctrines  which  contra- 
dict the  ethics  had  better  not  be  relied  on  as  a 
bulwark  against  perjury  ;  that  a  future  heaven  and 
hell  depending  not  wholly  on  personal  character 
and  conduct,  but  on  faith  in  vicarious  obedience 
and  imputed  righteousness  as  well,  are  destruc- 
tive of  the  sense  of  moral  obligation,  rather  than 
otherwise. 


EXPLORATION   OF   1810.  57 

The  navigators  of  the  mighty  Mohawk  reached 
Little  Falls  on  the  8th  July,  a  village  "  built  upon 
rocks  of  granite,  containing  about  thirty  or  forty 
houses  and  stores,  and  a  church,  together  with 
mills."  Here  their  "batteaux"  were  lifted  through 
the  rude  locks  of  the  "  Inland  Lock  Navigation 
Company,"  incorporated  in  1792  ;  and  he  notices 
that  its  tolls  there,  from  1803  to  July,  1810,  had 
been  $62,789.23,  and  that  in  the  previous  three 
months  242  boats  had  passed.  Here  says  our 
prudent  explorer,  "  The  rainy  weather  induced  me 
to  procure  thicker  stockings  ;  for  a  pair  of  coarse 
worsted  I  paid  lis.,  and  for  two  pair  of  cotton 
half  stockings,  6s.  6d.  each."  [Probably  $1.37* 
for  the  worsted,  and  81^  cents  each  for  the  cotton, 
in  Federal  money.]  An  old  style  of  reckoning 
money  changes  almost  as  slowly  as  an  old  style  of 
theology. 

Another  laborious  day  brought  the  voyagers  to 
Utica,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  night,  and  the  journal 
says  :  — 

"  Morris  and  Van  Rensselaer  having  pre-occupied 
Baggs'  tavern,  where  we  intended  to  quarter,  we 
put  up  at  Billinger's  tavern  in  Utica." 

That  bag  has  grown  bigger  since  two  travellers 
could    pre-occupy    it.     "  Utica,"    continues    the 


58  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

journal,  "is  a  nourishing  village  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Mohawk  ;  it  arrogates  to  itself  bein2T  the 
capital  of  the  Western  District.  Twenty-two 
years  ago  there  was  but  one  house  ;  there  are  now 
three  hundred.  By  the  census  now  taking, 

it  contains  1,650  inhabitants.  Two  newspapers 
are  printed  here." 

Morris  and  Van  Rensselaer,  the  two  aristocratic 
Commissioners,  continued  to  journey  by  land,  and 
the  navigators  overtaking  them  at  Rome,  a  meet- 
ins;  of  the  Commission  was  held  there  on  the  12th, 
of  which  Mr.  Clinton  is  so  cruel  as  to  place  this 
on  record  :  —  "  At  this  meeting  the  Senior  Com- 
missioner  was  for  breakino'  down  the  mound  of 
Lake  Erie,  and  lettina:  out  the  waters  to  follow 
the  level  of  the  country,  so  as  to  form  a  sloop 
navigation  with  the  Hudson,  and  without  any  aid 
from  any  other  water."  Every  party  politician 
should  know  that  his  absurdities  will  be  enjoyed 
by  the  opposite  party. 

The  Commissioners  adjourned  to  meet  in  Ge- 
neva, and  the  navigators  proceeded  on  their  voy- 
age by  a  canal  of  one  mile  and  three-fourths, 
connecting  the  Mohawk  with  Wood  Creek,  an 
affluent  of  Oneida  Lake.     While  on  the  latter  the 


EXPLORATION    OF    1810.  59 

journalist  mentions  dining   "  on  a  salmon  caught 
at  Fish  Creek,  about  eight  miles  from  Rome." 

De  Witt  Clinton,  as  a  worthy  pioneer  of  civil- 
ization and  "internal  improvements,"  had  a  sharp 
eye  for  both  the  beauties  and  utilities  of  nature, 
as  the  following  extracts  will  show.  What  a  pity 
it  is  that  those  who  have  followed  him  should 
have  made  so  much  waste  both  of  the  utilities  and 
the  beauties  ! 


"The  Mohawk  is  barren  of  fish.  It  formerly  con- 
tained great  plenty  of  trout — it  now  has  none.  The 
largest  fish  is  the  pike,  which  have  been  caught  weigh- 
ing fourteen  pounds.  Since  the  canal  at  Rome,  chubb, 
a  species  of  dace,  have  come  into  the  Mohawk  through 
Wood  Creek,  and  are  said  to  be  plenty.  A  salmon 
and  black  bass  have  also  been  speared  in  this  river, 
which  came  into  it  through  the  canal.  It  would  not  be 
a  little  singular  if  the  Hudson  should .  be  supplied  with 
salmon  through  that  channel.  The  falls  of  the  Cohoes 
oppose  a  great  impediment  to  the  passage  of  fish  ;  but 
the  Hudson  is  like  the  Mohawk,  a  very  sterile  river  in 
that  respect. 

"We  saw  great  numbers  of  bitterns,  blackbirds, 
robins,  and  bank  swallows,  which  perforate  the  banks  of 
the  river.  Also,  some  wood-ducks,  gulls,  shell  drakes, 
bob-linklins,  king-birds,  crows,  kildares,  small  snipe, 
woodpeckers,  woodcock,  wrens,  yellow  birds,  phebes, 
blue  jays,  highholes,  pigeons,  thrushes,  and  larks.  We 
also  saw  several  kingfishers,  wrhich  denote  the  presence 


60  MYRON"   HOLLEY. 

of  fish.  We  shot  several  bitterns,  the  same  as  found 
on  the  salt  marsh.  The  only  shell  fish  were  the 
snapping  turtle  and  muscle. 

"  We  saw  a  bright  red  bird  about  the  size  of  a  blue- 
bird. Its  wings  were  tipped  with  black,  and  the  bird 
uncommonly  beautiful.  It  appeared  to  have  no  song, 
and  no  one  present  seemed  to  know  its  name.  I  saw 
but  three  besides  in  the  whole  course  of  1113*  tour,  one 
on  the  Ridge  Road  west  of  the  Genesee  River.  It  is 
therefore  a  rara  avis." 

De  Witt  Clinton  was  a  subscriber  to  Alexander 
Wilson's  great  work  on  ornithology,  but  as  the 
second  volume  in  which  the  Sca7*let  Tanager  is 
described  was  only  published  in  1810,  he  prob- 
ably had  not  seen  it.  But  from  Clinton's  descrip- 
tion it  was  doubtless  that  bird.  "  Among  all  the 
birds  that  inhabit  our  woods,"  says  Wilson, 
M  there  is  none  that  strikes  the  eye  of  a  stranger, 
or  even  a  native,  with  so  much  brilliancy  as  this. 
The  depth  of  the  woods  is  his  favorite  abode. 
There  among  the  thick  foliage  of  the  tallest  trees, 
his  simple  and  almost  monotonous  notes  chip, 
churr,  repeated  at  short  intervals,  in  a  pensive 
tone,  may  be  occasionally  heard  ;  which  appear  to 
proceed  from  a  considerable  distance,  though  the 
bird  be  immediately  above  you ;  a  faculty  be- 
stowed   on    him    by   the    beneficent   Author    of 


EXPLORATION   OF    1810.  61 

Nature,  no  doubt  for  his  protection,  to  compen- 
sate in  a  degree  for  the  danger  to  which  his 
glowing  color  would  often  expose  him." 

"  On  the  banks  of  the  creek,"  proceeds  the  journal, 
"  was  plenty  of  boneset,  the  Canada  shrub,  said  to  be 
useful  in  medicine,  and  a  great  variety  of  beautiful 
flowering  plants.  Wild  gooseberry  bushes,  wild  cur- 
rants, and  wild  hops  were  also  to  be  seen.  The  goose- 
berries were  not  good  ;  the  hops  were  said  to  be  as 
good  as  the  domestic  ones.  In  the  long  weeds  and 
thick  underwood  we  were  at  first  apprehensive  of  rattle- 
snakes, of  which  we  were  told  that  there  are  three  kinds 
—  the  large  and  the  small,  and  the  dark  rattlesnakes. 
But  neither  here  nor  in  an}'  part  of  our  tour  did  we 
see  this  venomous  reptile.  The  only  animals  we  saw 
on  this  stream  were  the  black  squirrel  and  the  hare,  as 
it  is  called  in  Albam",  a  creature  white  in  winter,  of  the 
rabbit  kind,  although  much  larger." 

As  descriptive  of  the  country  through  which  the 
Erie  Canal  was  to  pass,  and  in  which  Mr.  Holley 
was  to  be  occupied  in  all  sorts  of  weather  for  seven 
years,  nothing  can  be  truer  to  life  than  the  account 
Mr.  Clinton  gives  of  his  observation  and  experi- 
ence along  AVood  Creek. 


© 


44 


We  passed,  on  the  north  side  of  the  creek,  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  old  fortification,  called  Fort  Bull.  The 
remains  of  an  old  dam,  to  impede  the  passage  of  a  hos- 
tile fleet,  and  to  assist  the  operations  of  the  fort,  were  also 


62  MYRON"   HOLLEY. 

to  be  seen.  Although  there  is  now  a  road  on  that  side 
of  the  creek,  yet  in  those  days  there  could  have  been 
no  marching  b}"  land  with  an  army.  The  transporta- 
tion of  provisions  must  have  been  impracticable  by  land  ; 
and,  indeed,  the  general  appearance  of  the  country 
exhibits  a  sunken  morass  or  swamp,  overgrown  with 
timber  and  formed  from  the  retreat  of  the  lake.   .   .   . 

"  "We  rose  early  in  the  morning  and  breakfasted  at 
the  Oak  Orchard,  six  miles  from  Gilbert's,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river.  The  ground  was  miry,  and  in  step- 
ping into  the  boat  my  foot  slipped,  and  I  was  parti}' 
immersed  in  the  creek.  The  Captain  assisted  me  in 
getting  out.  The  dampness  of  the  weather,  and  the 
sun  being  hardly  risen,  induced  me,  for  greater  precau- 
tion, to  change  my  clothes.  This  trifling  incident  was 
afterwards  magnified  by  the  papers  into  a  serious 
affair." 


The  exploring  party  descended  the  outlet  of 
Oneida  Lake  to  Lake  Ontario,  and  returning  as- 
cended the  Seneca,  through  the  Cayuga  marshes, 
as  far  as  Geneva,  hauling  their  boats  around  the 
falls  and  rapids.  The  effect  of  such  a  damp  wil- 
derness on  human  health  could  not  well  escape  so 
close  an  observer  and  frank  describer  as  De  "Witt 
Clinton,  and  we  get  a  very  correct  view  of  the 
perils  of  supervising  the  construction  of  a  canal 
through  that  region  in  what  he  says  at  the  comple- 
tion of  their  voyage,  under  date  of  July  24th. 


EXPLORATION   OF    1810.  63 

"  Having  now  concluded  our  vcrvage  and  intending  to 
proceed  from  this  place  by  land,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
look  back  and  reflect  upon  the  means  which  we  took  to 
guard  against  sickness  during  a  voyage  of  twentj'-one 
days,  through  the  most  insalubrious  waters,  exposed  to 
the  alternations  of  heat  and  rain,  the  miasmata  of 
marshes,  the  exhalation  of  swamps,  the  fogs  of  rivers, 
the  want  of  sleep,  and  frequently  of  good  water. 

"  In  the  first  place,  we  were  well  provided  with  good 
victuals.  Our  appetites  were  generally  good,  and  our 
principal  drink  was  port  wine,  which  was  recommended 
to  us  by  the  Senior  Commissioner. 

uIn  the  second  place  we  took  medicines  when  we 
found  ourselves  indisposed.  Dr.  Hosack  had  provided 
us  with  James's  Fever  Powders,  P^lixir  Proprietatis, 
Bark  and  Emetics  ;  and  we  had  got  at  Albany  Lee's 
Anti-bilious  Pills — pills  recommended  by  Mr.  G.  Mor- 
ris, and  some  mentioned  b}T  Ellicott,  when  he  was  Com- 
missioner to  run  the  boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Floridas.  He  says  in  his  Journal  that  it 
was  given  to  him  by  Dr.  Rush,  and  that  as  long  as  his 
stock  lasted  he  was  free  from  fever,  but  as  soon  as  he 
quit  the  use  of  it  he  was  seriously  attacked.  The 
receipt  is  as  follows  :  '  Two  grains  of  calomel  with  half 
a  grain  of  gamboge,  combined  by  a  little  soap.' 
These  pills  we  used  liberally,  and  found  them  very  effi- 
cacious. 

"In  the  third  place:  although  we  passed  through 
places  where  people  were  taken  down  with  fever,  and 
although  one  of  our  captains  was  seriously  sick,  and 
from  the  aspect  of  the  land  and  water  it  appeared  to  be 
impossible  for  a  stranger  to  escape  their  deleterious  in- 
fluence,  yet  we  maintained    a  uniform   flow  of   good 


64  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

spirits.  The  song  and  the  flute,  the  jest  and  vive  la 
bagatelle,  more  than  our  most  powerful  medicines,  were 
the  best  antidotes  to  sickness." 

How  high  the  party  kept  up  their  "good  spirits" 
is  indicated  by  a  number  of  practical  jokes  set 
down  in  the  journal.  For  example  :  "  We  dined 
in  the  woods,  ten  miles  from  Columbia,  on  the 
north  side,  and  at  the  head  of  Cross  Lake.  Visit- 
ing an  adjacent  house,  and  seeing  three  lusty 
women  at  the  waslitub,  none  of  whom  was  older 
than  forty,  we  thought  we  would  involve  the  Com- 
modore (Eddy)  in  a  scrape,  through  the  medium 
of  his  curiosity,  and  told  him  there  was  a  woman 
at  the  house  100  years  old,  with  grey  eyebrows, 
and  that  her  faculties  wrere  remarkably  good.  He 
immediately  left  the  boat  in  a  great  hurry,  and 
passed  with  uncommon  rapidity  through  a  hot  sun, 
to  the  house,  and  inquired  with  great  earnestness 
for  a  sight  of  the  old  woman.  Instead  of  meeting 
the  fate  of  Orpheus,  he  was  received  with  laugh- 
ter, and  returned  completely  hoaxed." 

The  residue  of  the  exploration  to  Buffalo  hav- 
ing to  be  performed  by  wagons,  gained  very  little 
information  of  the  swampy  route  which  the  canal 
was  destined  to  pursue  ;  indeed  the  commissioners 
do  not  seem  to  have  added  anything  of  practical 


EXPLORATION    OF    1810.  65 

value  to  the  report  previously  made  by  Mr. 
Geddes.  They  simply  had  an  interesting  trip, 
and  their  report  gives  us  a  graphic  view  of  a  rich 
wild  country  and  the  condition  of  its  sparse  and 
uncultured  people.  A  few  extracts  from  the  last 
pages  of  the  journal  will  give  glimpses  of  the 
character  of  the  early  population.  Here  is  his 
account  of  a 

CAMP    MEETING. 

"  On  our  return,  a  mile  from  Lyons,  and  a  mile  from 
the  road  in  a  thick  wood,  we  stopped  to  see  a  camp 
meeting  of  Methodists.  The  ground  was  somewhat 
elevated  ;  the  woods  were  cleared,  and  a  circle  was 
made  capable  of  containing  several  thousand.  The 
circle  was  formed  of  wooden  cabins,  tents,  covered 
wagons,  and  other  vehicles.  At  one  end  of  the  circle 
a  rostrum  was  erected,  capable  of  containing  several 
persons,  and  below  the  rostrum  or  pulpit  was  an 
orchestra  fenced  in.  We  arrived  at  this  place  before 
the  meeting  was  opened,  and  we  found  it  excessively 
damp  and  disagreeable  from  the  heav}'  rains.  Here 
eating  and  drinking  was  going  on  ;  there  people  were 
drying  themselves  by  a  fire.  In  one  place,  a  man  had 
a  crowd  around  him,  to  listen  to  his  psalm-singing  ;  in 
another,  a  person  was  vociferating  his  pra}'er.  And 
again,  a  person  had  his  arm  around  the  neck  of  another, 
looking  him  full  in  the  face,  and  admonishing  him 
of  the  necessity  of  repentance  ;  and  the  poor  object  of 
his  solicitude  listening  to  his  exhortations  with  tear- 
suffused  eyes.    At  length  four  preachers  ascended  the 


66  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

pulpit,  and  the  orchestra  was  filled  with  forty  more. 
The  people,  about  two  hundred  in  number,  were  called 
together  by  a  trumpet,  the  women  took  the  left  and  the 
men  the  right  hand  of  the  ministers.  A  good-looking 
man  opened  the  service  with  prayer,  during  which 
groans  followed  every  part  of  his  orisons,  decidedly 
emphatical.  After  prayer  he  commenced  a  sermon,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  prove  the  utility  of  preaching 
up  the  terrors  of  hell,  as  necessary  to  arrest  the  atten- 
tion of  the  audience  to  the  arguments  of  the  ministers. 
And  this  was  undoubtedly  intended  as  a  prelude  to 
terrific  discourses.  Capt.  Dorse}',  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Assembly  last  session,  and  who  is  a  devout 
Methodist,  was  kind  enough  to  show  us  seats,  and  to 
invite  us  to  breakfast  in  the  morning,  at  his  house  ;  but 
the  dampness  of  the  place  and  the  approach  of  night 
compelled  us  to  depart  before  the  sermon  was  com- 
pleted, which  we  did  singly,  so  as  to  avoid  interruption. 
We  were  mortified  at  the  conduct  of  our  drivers  in 
turning  the  carriages,  so  as  to  draw  off  the  attention  of 
the  people  from  the  sermon.  We  sent  our  apology  for 
it  to  Capt.  Dorse}T,  they  were  expressly  directed  to  do 
this  on  our  arrival.  As  far  as  we  could  hear,  the  voice 
of  the  preacher,  growing  louder  and  louder,  reached  our 
ears  as  we  departed,  and  we  met  crowds  of  people  going 
to  the  sermon.  On  the  margin  of  the  road  we  saw  per- 
sons with  cakes,  beer,  and  other  refreshments  for  sale. — 
Life  and  Writings  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  page  106. 

The  following  observations  from  Clinton's  jour- 
nal, though  having  only  a  remote  connection  with 
the  canal,  are  interesting : — 


EXPLORATION    OF    1810.  67 

August  1  (at  Ithaca). — "  It  was  pleasing  to  see  all 
over  the  country  advertisements  of  machines  for 
carding  wool. 

'•Mr.  Gere  has  finished,  for  |2,300  in  stock  of  the 
Ithaca  and  Owego  Turnpike  Company,  three  miles  of 
that  turnpike,  from  the  10th  April  to  the  10th  July, 
with  eight  men,  four  voke  of  oxen,  and  two  teams 
of  horses.  Scrapers  are  a  powerful  engine  in  making 
roads.  He  is  also  building  an  elegant  frame  hotel, 
three  stories  high,  and  50  by  40  feet,  with  suitable  out- 
buildings and  garden.  The  carpenter's  work  was  con- 
tracted for  at  81.500:  the  whole  will  not  cost  more 
than  $6,000.  Travellers  from  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
etc.,  will  find  this  a  much  nearer  route  to  Geneva, 
Genesee,  the  Lakes  and  Upper  Canada  than  by  Albany, 
and  the  road  very  accommodating  when  the  Ithaca  and 
Geneva  turnpike  is  made.  Gere  is  a  very  enterprising 
man.  and  vastly  superior  to  his  brother-in-law,  Judge  B., 
who  appears  to  have  exhausted  his  genius  in  giving  his 
children  eccentric  names,  as  Don  Carlos,  Julius  Octa- 
vius,  Joanna  Almeida." 

[Here  we,  perhaps,  have  the  source  of  that  eccentricity 
of  names  for  which  the  State  of  New  York  is  remark- 
able.] v 

••  Fourteen  miles  from  Ithaca,  in  the  town  of  Spencer, 
Tioga  County,  is  a  settlement  of  Virginians  called  Speed; 
they  are  Federalists.  An  old  man  by  the  name  of  Hyde 
belonging  to  it,  spent  at  least  five  hours  in  the  tavern 
to-day.  and  went  off  so  drunk  that  he  could  hardly 
balance  himself  on  his  horse.  Behind  him  was  a  bag? 
containing  on  each  side  a  keg  of  liquor,  and  his  pock- 


68  MYEON     HOLLEY. 

ets  were  loaded  with  bottles.  In  the  bar-room  he 
abused  Jefferson,  Madison  and  a  number  of  other  lead- 
ing Republicans. 

"  Does  it  make  an}'  essential  difference  to  the  com- 
munity where  its  produce  is  sold  if  sold  to  profit?  If  a 
bushel  of  wheat  can  be  carried  to  Baltimore  for  six 
shillings  less  expense  than  to  Albany,  ought  not  this 
to  be  encouraged?  Here  the  profit  to  the  fanner  com- 
petes with  that  of  the  merchant.  But  the  importing 
merchant  is  not  injured ;  the  money  is  carried  to  New 
York  and  expended  in  merchandise,  and  more  is 
expended  in  consequence  of  the  increased  price  of  the 
commodity.  How  does  this  doctrine  bear  on  the  Mon- 
treal trade?     This  idea  deserves  further  reflection." 

De  Witt  Clinton  had  been  ardently  fostering  the 
canal  policy,  partly  in  order  to  divert  the  Montreal 
trade  to  New  York.  Here  he  seems  to  have  begun 
to  doubt  the  validity  of  one  of  his  arguments,  and 
to  let  down  a  bar  towards  the  doctrine  of  free 
trade. 


EXPLORATION    OF    1816.  69 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EXPLORATION    OF    1816. 

The  war  of  1812  was  no  sooner  over  than  the 
project  of  the  Erie  Canal  revived  with  some  dimi- 
nution of  political  if  not  physical  obstacles.  The 
need  of  easier  communication  with  the  west  had 
been  demonstrated  at  any  rate.  The  powerful 
eloquence  of  Myron  Ilolley  in  the  Assembly  of 
1816  produced  the  appointment  of  another  Board 
of  Commissioners,  on  which  Mr.  Holley  himself 
had  a  place. 

He  became,  in  fact,  the  executive  power,  with- 
out which  the  great  enterprise  would  have  proved 
a  failure  in  more  senses  than  one.  It  was  his 
practical  wisdom,  energy  and  utter  self-sacrifice 
that  carried  it  through  in  eight  years  in  the  face 
of  powerful  and  unrelenting  opposition,  with  an 
economy  quite  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  public 
works.  Never  was  a  republic  prouder  than  New 
York  when  the  cannon  thundered  from  Buffalo  to 
Albany  to  announce  the  wedding  of  Lake  Erie  to 
the  Hudson ;  and,  alas  !   never  was  one  more  un- 


70  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

grateful.  It  remains  for  History  to  right  the 
enormous  wrong,  by  showing  posterity  its  true 
benefactor,  and  shedding  upon  coming  ages  the 
benign  light  of  his  glorious  example.  Posterity 
will  be  enriched  by  his  living  in  their  hearts,  and 
that  was  his  life's  aim. 

The  first  year's  work  on  the  canal  was  one  of 
survey  and  calculation.  Competent  engineers  were 
employed,  and  under  the  careful  and  constant  per- 
sonal supervision  of  Mr.  Holley,  nearly  every 
separate  mile  of  the  route  was  the  subject  of  a 
thorough  and  close  estimate  of  the  expense.  The 
report  of  this  work,  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Holley  and 
submitted  to  the  legislature  on  the  17th  of  Feb., 
1817,  is  a  model  document  of  74  pages,  culmin- 
ating in  the  folio  wins-  estimate  of  distances  and 
expense.  Never  was  a  work  of  such  magnitude 
so  thorou^hlv  laid  out  in  so  short  a  time,  nor  with 
so  close  a  prophecy  of  its  actual  cost. 


From  Lake  Erie  to  11  miles  up  Tonne- 

wan'da, 

From  Tonnewanda  to  Seneca, 

From  Seneca  to  Rome, 

From  Rome  to  Scoharie, 

From  Scoharie  to  Albany,    . 

General  expenses,        .... 

JLot>ai,     ...... 


Distance. 

Cost. 

Milus. 

Chains. 

27 

— 

$250,877 

136 

2h 

1,550,985 

77 

- 

853,186 

71 

27 

1,090,603 

42 

- 

1,106,087 

- 

29£ 

75,000 

353 

$4,926,738 

EXPLORATION    OF    1816.  71 

As  a  preliminary  of  this  survey  Mr.  Holley  and 
two  other  commissioners  had  visited  and  carefully 
examined  the  Middlesex  Canal  in  Massachusetts, 
a  water-way  of  27  miles  connecting  the  Merrimac 

with  Boston  harbor  and  which,  constructed  by  pri- 
vate hands,  under  a  charter,  had  cost,  with  only 
three-fourths  of  the  depth,  or  a  capacity  to  pass 
a  boat  of  14  tons  instead  of  one  of  100,  like  the 
Erie,  the  sum  of  8528,000.  It  had  several  wooden 
aqueducts,  which  were  beginning  to  rot  in  1816. 
Considering  length  and  section,  if  the  Erie  Canal 
had  been  as  costly,  it  would  have  cost  §13,000,000 
instead  of  85,000,000. 

The  Middlesex  Canal  was  projected  and  char- 
tered in  1789  by  a  few  patriotic  citizens  of  Boston 
who  do  not  seem  to  have  expected  to  make  it 
very  profitable.  The  stock  was  divided  into  800 
shares,  to  be  assessed  as  money  was  needed  for 
the  work.  On  9(3  shares  nothing  seems  to  have 
been  paid.  The  first  surveyors  were  ludicrously 
incompetent,  for  they  made  the  summit  level,  22 
miles  from  Boston,  only  QS^  feet  above  tide, 
whereas  it  was  10-1 ;  and  16|  feet  above  the  Merri- 
mac, while  it  was  32.  The  company  suspected 
the  incompetence  and  sent  to  England  for  Mr. 
"Weston,  an   experienced   engineer,  who  reported 


72  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

in  1794,  and  a  boat  passed  from  the  Merriraac  to 
Boston  harbor  in  1803,  though  the  work  was  not 
entirely  completed.  In  fact,  assessments  contin- 
ued till  one  hundred  had  been  paid,  making  the 
outgo  on  each  share,  counting  interest  at  six  per 
cent,  $1,455.25  before  any  dividend  was  paid,  the 
whole  income  up  to  1819  being  expended  in  im- 
proving the  navigation  of  the  Concord  and  Merri- 
mac  rivers.  Thus  the  property  stood  the  proprietors 
in  $1,164,200  before  it  began  to  pay  anything. 
From  1819  to  the  opening  of  the  Boston  &  Lowell 
Railroad  in  1835,  the  dividends  were  good,  but 
the  income  fell  off  one-third  the  first  year  after 
that,  and  continued  to  go  down  till  1843,  when 
the  company  made  a  desperate  effort  to  sell  the 
Concord  River  to  the  citv  of  Boston  as  a  water 
supply  for  drinking  purposes.  At  last  the  Rail- 
road bought  the  franchise  and  the  canal  was  aban- 
doned. In  1816  the  tolls  on  that  canal  were 
$30,000.     It  cost   8   cents   a  cord  to  carry  wood 

through  a  single  lock. 

©  © 

The  Middlesex  Canal  perished  before  the  rail- 
road system,  because  the  navigable  capacity  of  the 
Concord  and  Merrimac  is  nothing  compared  with 
the  Lakes  beyond  Buffalo.  The  Erie  Canal  sur- 
vives, with  a  greatly  enlarged  channel,  and  will 
long  continue  to  if  the  State  of  New  York  is  wise. 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROVISION.  73 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    FINANCIAL    PROVISION. 

In  the  face  of  this  grand  report  the  various  in- 
terests opposed  to  the  work  were  not  strong 
enough  to  defeat  it.  They  onlv  prevailed  so  far 
as  not  to  commit  the  state  irrevocably  to  the  com- 
pletion  of  the  whole  line.  The  commissioners 
were  authorized  by  law  to  complete  the  section 
from  Rome  to  the  Seneca  River,  and  funds  were 
provided  only  .sufficient  for  that  purpose.  This 
satisfied  those  who  thought  their  interests  would 
suffer  if  Lake  Ontario  were  left  out,  and  who  de- 
nounced a  ditch  of  nearly  200  miles  through  the 
swamps,  parallel  with  that  lake,  as  a  piece  of 
superfluous  folly.  The  western  landholders  had 
made  large  donations  of  land  for  the  canal,  and  it 
readily  occurred  to  the  legislature  that  the  people 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  canal  could 
be  specially  taxed  on  the  betterment  of  their 
estates,  but  these  resources  were  only  prospective. 
Ready  money  must  be  had,  and  for  this  recourse 


74  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

was  had  to  the  banks,  from  which  a  loan  of 
$400,000  was  authorized.  The  banks  were  will- 
ing to  loan  at  a  lower  interest,  provided  their 
paper  circulation  might  be  extended  by  the  dis- 
bursement of  small  bills  to  the  workmen  ;  and  by 
accepting  this  condition  the  state  saved,  first  and 
last,  over  $80,000.  But  to  Mr.  Holley,  who, 
without  any  extra  salary  or  compensation,  acted 
as  Treasurer  to  the  Canal  Commissioners,  this  sti- 
pulation worked  a  grievous  woe,  and  all  the  more 
so  from  the  just,  generous,  and  economical  policy 
he  pursued  with  his  contractors,  whereby,  beyond 
doubt,  the  state  saved  some  millions.  It  will  be 
apparent  to  any  one  who  has  the  slightest  acquain- 
tance with  business,  that  the  disbursement  of  large 
sums  in  small  bills,  to  a  multitude  of  contractors, 
scattered  through  some  hundreds  of  miles  of  unin- 
habited  wilderness,  where  numerous  subordinates 
must  be  trusted,  and  the  accounting  bureau  must 
be  on  wheels  or  horseback,  camping  in  shanties  or 
the  open  air,  must  be  exposed  to  chances  of  consid- 
erable loss.  No  man  with  his  e}res  open  to  these 
chances,  and  to  his  own  individual  safety,  would 
have  taken  this  responsibility  without  an  extra 
compensation  or  commission  sufficient  to  secure 
himself  against  loss.      The  very  least  would  have 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROVISION.  id 

been  as  much  as  the  state  saved.  Mr.  Ilolley,  be- 
yond doubt,  understood  the  nature  of  the  risk  he 
incurred,  but  so  profound  was  his  sense  of  the 
value  of  his  object,  and  so  little  in  its  presence 
did  he  think  of  himself,  that  lie  would  not  for  a 
moment  imperil  it  by  insisting  on  his  own  security. 
He  silently  took  the  additional  labor  and  responsi- 
bility :  and  the  result,  considering  all  the  circum- 
stances,  was  as  much  of  a  financial  success  as 
would  have  been  the  nautical  one  of  crossing  the 
Atlantic  in  a  dug-out,  to  be  swamped  in  the  break- 
ers of  the  last  mile.  But  this  will  be  explained  in 
its  proper  place. 

By  the  Act  of  the  leo-islature  the  sum  of  87.">,(J00 
was  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  tools  by  the 
commissioners,  but  Mr.  Holley  was  wise  enough 
to  see  that  it  would  be  far  more  economical  to 
have  his  contractors  use  their  own  tools  than  those 
of  the  state,  even  if  the  state  had  to  advance 
money  to  purchase  them,  and  he  acted  accordingly. 
In  his  report  of  Jan.  31,  1818,  he  thus  describes 
his  master-stroke  of  policy  in  preferring  small 
contracts  to  large  ones, —  "  It  will  be  perceived 
that  the  length  of  the  line  embraced  in  the  several 
contracts  for  excavation  and  embankment  varies 
from  forty  rods  to  three    miles.     The    contracts, 


76  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

generally ,  were  made  to  embrace  less  than  would 
otherwise  have  been  necessary,  in  order  that  men 
in  moderate  pecuniary  circumstances  might  be 
enabled  to  engage  in  the  work,  provided  they 
could  procure  the  necessary  security.  And  al- 
though this  multiplication  of  the  contracts  created 
much  more  trouble  and  labor  for  the  Commission- 
ers than  a  contrary  course  would  have  done,  —  as 
on  every  job  it  was  necessary  not  only  to  draw  and 
execute  a  contract,  but  also  a  counterpart  thereof, 
so  that  each  party  might  have  one  in  his  posses- 
sion,— yet  this  was  obviously  more  just  and  equita- 
ble than,  by  a  diminution  of  the  number  of 
contracts,  to  have  put  it  in  the  power  of  a  few 
wealthy  individuals  to  have  monopolized  the  whole, 
and  to  have  made  sub-contracts  at  reduced  prices 
with  the  laboring  part  of  the  community."  Fifty- 
eight  miles  had  been  put  under  contract  in  this 
way,  before  the  formal  and  ceremonial  commence- 
ment of  the  work,  and  the  same  just  and  enlight- 
ened policy  was  pursued  throughout.  It  is  plain 
enough  how  much  this  enhanced  the  risks  of  the 
disbursing  commissioners. 


THE    DIGGING.  77 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE     DIGGING. 


As  considerable  work  had  been  done  on  the 
American  revolution  before  July  4th,  1776,  so 
there  had  probably  been  some  digging  on  the  canal 
before  July  4th,  1817,  but  it  was  resolved  to  do 
some  at  Rome,  solemnly  and  ceremoniously,  on 
that  auspicious  day,  and  it  was  done.  But  it 
seems  to  have  been  an  affair  of  onlv  local  interest, 
for  I  find  no  record  of  it  in  the  leading  newspa- 
pers of  Xew  York.  DeWitt  Clinton  was  not 
there  to  wield  the  spade,  for  he  was  that  day 
escorted  to  the  municipal  celebration  of  the  city 
of  Xew  York  by  the  Washing  fan  Benevolent 
Society,"  of  which  he  wrote  so  disrespectfully  in 
Schenectady  in  1810. 

m 

But  I  do  find  some  other  things  worth  noting 
just  here,  and  especially  about  a  "peculiar  institu- 
tion'' whose  grave  began  to  be  dug  that  day. 

It  was  "the  era  of  good  feeling."'  for  President 
Monroe   was  then   making  his  tour  of  New  Eng- 


78  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

land,  and  was  that  day  in  Boston.  The  newspa- 
pers of  the  country  were  occupied  with  addresses 
to  him,  and  his  felicitous  replies.  Boston  merch- 
ants, who  had  almost  rebelled  at  the  protection  of 
sailors  by  the  destruction  of  their  trade,  were  now 
in  exuberant  good  humor  by  the  prospect  of  profits 
on  cotton.  Everything  was  lovely,  at  least  on 
the  outside. 

A  Cincinnati  newspaper  of  July  4th,  1817,  had 
the  following  curious  piece  of  "  ship  news  "  : 

Singular  Arrival.  — Arrived  at  this  port  on  Mon- 
day morning  last  (June  80th),  a  small  schooner-built 
boat  of  about  six  tons  burthen,  30  days  from  Rome,  on 
the  Mohawk  river.  State  of  New  York  !  The  boat  was 
'  conducted  by  Capt.  Dean  and  four  Indians  ;  passen- 
gers, two  squaws  and  an  Indian  bo}'.  It  was  a  hand- 
some model,  painted  in  neat  style,  with  two  masts,  and 
sails,  and  an  appropriate  flag.  The}'  sailed  hence  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  for  the  Wabash.  Their 
avowed  object  is  to  enter  lands  on  behalf  of  their  tribe, 
and  then  to  ascend  the  Wabash  to  its  source,  cross  over 
with  the  boat  to  the  Miami,  and  return  by  the  wa}T  of 
Lake  Erie.  This  boat  left  Rome  on  the  first  of  June, 
passed  into  Lake  Ontario  by  way  of  Wood  Creek, 
Oneida  Lake,  and  Oswego  river,  and  after  navigating 
the  greater  part  of  the  southern  coast  of  the  lake,  was 
conveyed  around  the  Falls  of  Niagara  on  wheels,  eleven 
miles  ;  then  by  way  of  Buffalo,  across  the  end  of  Lake 
Erie,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cataragus  Creek,  and  up  it  to 
a  portage  of  eight  miles  and  an  half,  across  to  the  head 


THE   DIGGING.  79 

waters  of  the  Alleghany  river.  It  arrived  at  this  place 
after  passing  two  portages  amounting  to  nineteen  miles. 
During  this  time  the}'  were  detained  nearly  ten  days  by 
h  ad  winds  and  rains. 

These  descendants  of  the  forest,  now  wearing  the 
habiliments  and  appearance  of  civilization  and  industry, 
manifested  in  their  deportment  that  ingenuousness  and 
dignity  of  mind  which  have  characterized,  in  many  in- 
stances, the  savage  of  the  forest,  improved  in  a  consid- 
erable decree  bv  the  hand  of  civilization.  While 
gratifying  the  curiosity  of  several  of  our  citizens,  by 
taking  them  on  board,  and  with  a  gentle  breeze,  sailing 
a  considerable  distance  up  and  across  the  river,  the  fol- 
lowing characteristic  and  appropriate  toasts  were  given 
b}'  one  of  the  Indians,  accompanied  hy  the  firing  of  his 
gun  ;  while  on  the  Kentucky  side,  "■  The  patriotism  and 
bravery  of  Kentucky;"  while  on  the  Ohio  side,  "Free 
trade  and  no  slavery." 

This  Indian  seems  to  have  remembered  how 
some  hundreds  of  Kentucky  volunteers  had  to 
make  foot-paths  through  the  wilderness  of  Ohio, 
after  Gen.  Hull's  surrender.  And  what  a  pity  it 
was  that  he  had  not  been  in  the  convention  that 
drew  up  our  present  Constitution,  to  advocate 
direct  taxation,  by  which  trade  might  have  been 
made  free,  if  not  all  men. 

It  is  a  little  significant  that  the  foregoing  "  ship 
news "  was  copied  entire  into  the  A7".  Y.  Com- 
mercial Advertiser   and    National    Intelligencer. 


80  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

But  the  Columbian  Centinel,  of  Boston,  in  copy- 
ing it,  left  out  the  last  sentence,  the  most  interest- 
ins:  of  all. 

On  the  same  day  appeared  in  the  JV.  Y.  Spec- 
tator  (the  weekly  issue  of  the  Daily  Commercial 
Advertiser')  the  following  eommunication  :  — 

Negro  Slavery.  —  The  kidnapping  of  a  number  of 
negroes  the  last  week,  with  an  intention  of  transporting 
them  to  Georgia,  demands  public  attention.  The  ex- 
tent to  which  this  has  been  carried  on  from  this  and 
other  middle  States,  exceeds  the  belief  of  man}'  who 
have  not  made  it  a  subject  of  inquiry.  Particularl}*  has 
this  been  the  case  within  the  last  two  years.  The  high 
price  which  the  productions  of  the  South  have  com- 
manded since  the  peace,  has  induced  many  to  engage 
in  planting.  This  has  made  slaves  in  higher  demand. 
Prime  negroes  have  been  sold  for  eight  hundred  dollars 
and  upwards. 

To  give  a  better  idea  on  this  subject,  the  following 
is  extracted  from  the  journal  of  a  young  gentleman  who 
visited  the  Southern  States  during  the  last  winter  :  — 

Augusta,  Feb.  3rd,  1817. 

"  Last  night  nry  attention  was  attracted  b}*  a  number 
of  fires  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  On  enquiring 
this  morning.  I  found  them  to  be  at  the  stalls  of  negroes 
exposed  for  sale.  A  land  that  boasts  its  freedom  !  A 
land  of  high-toned  democracy,  where  human  beings, 
like  dumb  brutes,  are  driven  to  market,  and,  instead  of 
dying  by  the  hand  of  the  butcher,  die  a  lingering  death 
of  slavery  and  bondage  ! 


THE   DIGGING.  81 

"Immediately  after  breakfast,  I  resolved  to  visit  this 
camp  of  human  misery.  On  my  arrival  I  assumed  the 
character  of  a  planter's  son  wishing  to  purchase  slaves. 
The  camp  consisted  of  nearly  three  hundred ;  and  the 
keepers,  thinking  they  had  a  good  customer,  exerted 
themselves  to  shew  their  property  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. They  took  me  from  tent  to  tent,  until  I  had  seen 
the  whole.  With  more  brutality  than  Turks  they 
cracked  their  lashes,  and  ordered  about  these  miserable 
being 5  to  make  them  appear  to  the  best  advantage. 

"These  poor  creatures,  bought  in  the  States  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  driven  across,  in  a  few 
daj's,  what  would  require  for  an  army  weeks  to  traverse, 
were  beseeching  some  one  to  buy  them,  that  the}'  might 
have  a  home.  Once  I  was  addressed  by  a  child,  who 
could  hardly  speak,  k  Master,  won't  3-011  please  bii3r  me 
and  1113'  mamma,  that  we  may  have  a  home?'  Looking 
round,  a  miserable  object  presented  itself  to  view.  A 
woman,  with  an  infant  not  three  da3's  old,  and  which 
first  saw  the  light  on  the  ground,  where  it  then  la3r,  was 
the  mother  of  the  bo3r  who  so  feelingly  addressed  me. 
In  silence  I  turned  awa3' ;  astonishment  made  me 
dumb. 

"  The  exportation  of  slaves  from  Virginia  to  Georgia, 
since  the  abolition  of  slave  trade,  and  more  especially 
since  the  peace,  has  yielded  great  profits.  Wealth  is 
power,  and  power  is  the  object  at  which  mankind  aim. 
To  acquire  this  what  will  not  man  attempt?  What  has 
he  not  attempted  ? 

"  More  than  twenty  thousand  slaves,  if  we  ma3r  be- 
lieve those  who  best  know,  have  been  imported  into 
Georgia  within  the  last  two  3'ears.  Legislatures  have 
attempted  to  put  a  stop  to  this  barbarous  traffic  ;    but 


82  MYRON  HOLLEY. 

such  is 'the  debasement  of  many  of  the  people  where 
slavery  exists,  that  it  will  require  the  united  efforts  of 
the  virtuous  in  every  country  to  stop  this  horrid  prac- 
tice. Were  I  to  make  laws,  death  should  be  the  pun- 
ishment of  him  who  sells  a  man." 

Thus  in  the  latter  half  of  the  summer  of  1817  a 
beginning  had  been  made  in  the  vast  enterprise, 
and    such    an    enthusiasm    enkindled    in    a    large 

o 

body  of  contractors  and  workmen  that  the  frost 
and  snow  of  winter  could  hardly  stop  them.  And 
when  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  dig,  they  took 
advantage  of  the  easier  transportation  through  the 
swamps  when  frozen  to  haul  to  the  line  the  stores 
that  would  be  needed  the  next  summer.  Unfor- 
tunately the  next  spring  was  so  exceedingly 
wet  that  no  work  could  be  done  till  June,  and 
then  under  great  disadvantage.  But  the  system 
and  energy  with  which  the  work  was  pressed  for- 
ward by  Mr.  Holley  after  it  did  begin,  encouraged 
Gov.  Clinton  to  make  his  mightiest  effort  at  the 
session  of  1819  to  have  the  legislature  commit  it- 
self  to  the  completion  of  the  whole  work  ;  and  in 
spite  of  able  and  determined  opposition  he  suc- 
ceeded. In  his  message  to  the  legislature  he 
stated  a  fact  which  now,  sixty  years  later,  seems 
almost  incredible,  and  serves  to  show  the  magni- 


THE    DIGGING.  83 

tude  of  the  obstacles  which  stood  in  the  way  of 
what  its  opponents  then  called  the  "  Quixotic 
canal  policy."  :?At  the  present  period,"  said 
Gov.  Clinton,  "a  ton  of  commodities  can  be  con- 
veyed from  Buffalo  to  Albany,  by  land,  for  one 
hundred  dollars,  and  to  Montreal,  principally  by 
water,  for  twenty-five."  And  he  predicted  that 
as  soon  as  the  canal  was  completed  a  ton  could  be 
carried  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  for  ten  dollars.  It 
is  now  carried  for  two  ! 

In  his  report  to  the  Assembly  of  1819  Mr. 
Holley  says  :  "  The  avidity  with  which  great  num- 
bers of  respectable  citizens  sought  contracts  was 
highly  gratifying,  and  afforded  a  sure  pledge  of 
the  energy  which  has  since  been  displayed  in  their 
execution.  Many  applications  for  every  section 
were  always  made  immediately  after  and  often  be- 
fore the  returns  of  the  engineer  had  been  received, 
so  as  to  render  it  proper  to  let  them  out.  A  very 
few  of  the  contractors  are  foreigners,  who  have 
recently  arrived  hi  this  country  ;  but  far  the  great- 
est part  of  them  are  native  farmers,  mechanics, 
merchants  and  professional  men,  residing  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  line  ;  and  three  fourths  of  all  the 
laborers  were  born  among  us." 

With  such  men,  set  to  work  to  make  the  great 


84  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

water-way  through  a  dense  forest,  the  giants  of 
which  bound  the  earth  with  their  interlacing  roots,  it 
was  to  be  expected  that  some  mechanical  ingenuity 
would  be  evolved.  The  calculations  of  cost  had 
been  very  close.  If  the  contractors  were  to  be 
held  within  them,  and  were  to  work  only  with 
axes,  mattocks  and  spades,  they  would  make  little 
or  no  profit.  And  accordin^lv  we  find  that  new 
implements  and  processes  at  once  sprang  into  ex- 
istence. Even  the  wheelbarrow  was  wonderfully 
improved,  so  that  its  oldest  friends  hardly  knew 
it.*  Trees  had  no  longer  the  honor  of  being 
chopped  down.  Living  and  breathing,  they  were 
pulled  up  by  the  roots.  When  old  stumps  stood 
in  the  way,  they  too  were  pulled  up,  with  as  little 
ceremony  as  if  the  contractors  had  been  dentists. 
Oxen  and  scrapers  made  the  excavations  and 
embankments. 

In  his  report,  Mr.  Holley  gave  some  glimpses 
of  the  inventive  talent  which  the  grand  enterprise 
developed,  exceedingly  interesting  as  the  first 
skirmish  line  of  the  great  battle  which  has  trans- 
formed a  continent. 

"  Machinery  has  hitherto  been  used  with  most  suc- 

*  The  new  one-wheeled  vehicle  was  called  the  Brainard  Wheelbar- 
row, in  honor  of  Jeremiah  Brainard,  of  Rome,  the  improver. 


THE    DIGGING.  85 

cess  in  the  heavy  business  of  grubbing  and  clearing. 
By  means  of  an  endless  screw  connected  with  a  roller, 
a  cable,  a  wheel  and  a  crank,  one  man  is  able  to  bring 
down  a  tree  of  the  largest  size  without  any  cutting 
about  its  roots.  For  this  purpose  the  means  are  all, 
except  the  cable,  combined  in  a  small  but  very  strong 
frame  of  wood  and  iron.  This  frame  is  immovably 
fastened  on  the  ground,  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  one 
hundred  feet  from  the  foot  of  the  tree,  and  to  the  trunk 
of  which,  fifty  or  sixty  feet  up,  one  end  of  the  cable  is 
secured,  the  other  being  connected  with  the  roller. 
When  this  is  done  the  man  turns  the  crank,  which  suc- 
cessively moves  the  screw,  the  wheel  and  the  roller,  on 
which,  as  the  cable  winds  up,  the  tree  must  gradually 
yield,  until  at  length  it  is  precipitated  by  the  weight  of 
its  top." 

Every  one  who  has  travelled  much  through 
American  forests  must  have  noticed  how  nature 
herself  has  sometimes  made  roads,  everything  but 
removing  the  prostrate  trunks.  She  simply  com- 
bined the  force  of  the  whirlwind  with  that  of 
gravitation.  Art,  imitating  the  lateral  force  of 
wind,  effected  a  vast  economy  of  force  over  the 
use  of  the  axe  in  making  a  road  for  the  Erie  Canal 
through  the  then  almost  unbroken  forests  of  west- 
ern New  York.  But  wherever  the  land  was 
alread}'  cleared,  the  stump  of  every  departed  tree 
at  that  period  stood  firm,  and  gravitation  could 


86  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

afford  no  aid  for  its  removal.     Of  this  obstacle 
Mr.  Holley  said  :  — 

"  There  is  no  grubbing  so  difficult  and  expensive  by 
the  common  methods  as  that  of  sound  green  stumps  ; 
and  as  our  citizens  west  of  Utica  are  every  day  multi- 
prying  these  evidences  of  their  industiy,  it  was  desira- 
ble to  discover  some  easier  method  of  eradicating  them. 
Such  means  have  been  found ;  but  the  cost  of  the 
machinery,  in  which  they  partly  consist,  would  forbid 
the  use  of  them  in  ordinaiy  cases.  Two  strong  wheels, 
sixteen  feet  in  diameter,  are  made  and  connected  to- 
gether by  a  round  axletree  twent}r  inches  thick  and 
thirt}'  feet  long ;  between  these  wheels,  and  with  its 
spokes  inseparably  framed  into  this  axletree,  another 
wheel  is  placed,  fourteen  feet  in  diameter,  round  the 
rim  of  which  a  rope  is  several  times  passed,  with 
one  end  fastened  through  the  rim,  and  with  the  other 
end  loose,  but  in  such  a  condition  as  to  produce  a  revo- 
lution of  the  wheel  whenever  it  is  pulled.  This  appar- 
atus is  so  moved  as  to  have  the  stump,  on  which  it  is 
intended  to  operate,  mid  wa}' between  the  largest  wheels 
and  nearly  under  the  axletree  ;  and  these  wheels  are  so 
braced  as  to  remain  stead}'.  A  very  strong  chain  is 
hooked,  one  end  to  the  bod}*  of  the  stump,  or  its  princi- 
pal root,  and  the  other  to  the  axletree.  The  power  of 
horses  or  oxen  is  applied  to  the  loose  end  of  the  rope 
mentioned,  and  as  the}'  draw,  a  rotary  motion  is  com- 
municated through  the  smallest  wheel  to  the  axletree, 
on  which  as  the  chain  hooked  to  the  stump  winds  up, 
the  stump  itself  is  gradually  disengaged  from  the  earth 
in  which  it  grew." 


THE    DIGGING.  87 

The  cost  of  such  a  machine,  he  says,  was  $250. 
They  had  also  invented  a  plough  with  a  sharp-cut- 
ting edire  of  steel,  which,  running  its  lono-  nose 
under  the  roots,  with  its  razor  edge  turned  up- 
wards, and  making  a  narrow  furrow,  so  chopped 
them  into  small  pieces  that  they  were  easily  swept 
away  by  the  scraper.  Mr.  Hollev  was  remark- 
able  for  stating  in  his  reports  all  the  difficulties  met 
with,  so  that  his  candor  could  never  be  impeached. 
He  rather  hoped  than  promised,  and  the  public 
was  never  disappointed  by  him,  except  favorably. 

The  Act  of  April  7,  1819,  authorized  borrowing 
$600,000  and  completing  the  canal  from  Seneca 
River  to  Lake  Erie.  But  to  gain  this  the  friends 
of  the  canal  policy  were  obliged  to  extend  equal 
favor  to  the  eastern  end  and  the  Champlain  Canal. 
And  now  all  its  enemies  combined  their  energies 
to  defeat  the  western  section,  and  to  stop  the  great 
ditch  at  Oswego.  The  whole  work  as  authorized 
by  the  legislature  they  said  would  ruin  the  state, 
and  a  ditch  of  200  miles  through  a  swamp  parallel  to 
a  lake,  was  idiotic.  As  the  hands  of  the  commis- 
sioners were  so  full  with  work  not  completed,  it 
was  hoped  that  public  sentiment  might  be  aroused 
against  it  before  anything  was  done  on  the  western 
section,  and  to   this    end  a  very  able  writer  was 


88  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

employed,  who,  under  the  name  of  "  Peter  Plough- 
share,*' stirred  up  the  jealousy  of  the  eastern  farm- 
ers and  all  the  people  of  the  Ontario  Lake  ports. 
The  obstructive  ability  of  this  pamphlet  can  hardly 
be  realized  at  this  day.  It  is  probably  well  for 
the  writer,  obviously  a  man  of  talents  and  culture, 
that  his  real  name,  if  it  ever  was  known,  has  been 
thorouo'hlv  forgotten  in  New  York,  for  a  more 
despicable  piece  of  demagogism  was  perhaps  never 
clothed  in  £ood  English.  It  was  addressed  to  the 
Members  elect  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  dated  Jefferson  County,  July  20, 
1819.  It  was  printed  in  Utica  and  probably  sent 
to  every  farmer  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state. 
It  was  entitled,  '  Considerations  against  con- 
tinuing the  Great  Canal  west  of  the  Sen- 
eca." "  Facts  are  stubborn  things  "  was  its  motto. 
To  the  future  legislators  it  said  : 

"  As  the  representatives  of  the  interests  of  a  free, 
great  and  growing  people,  it  undoubtedly  becomes  }*ou 
to  examine  thoroughly  before  you  decide  a  question  of 
such  vital  importance  —  to  be  morally  certain,  before 
3011  strike  a  blow  which  must  affect  unborn  ages,  that 
its  effects  are  to  be  beneficial —  &e,,  &c.,  and  finally  to 
beware  lest  you  load  the  present  generation  with  a 
grievous  and  real  burden,  for  the  sake  of  a  distant  and 
problematical  benefit  to  posterity." 


THE    DIGGING.  89 

Turning  to  the  farmers,  with  a  humility  worthy 
of  Uriah  Heep,  and  which  doubtless  accounts  for 
the  oceultation  of  the  real  name  of  the  writer,  the 
pamphlet  proceeds  :  — 

"With  these  impressions,  a  plain  farmer  —  accus- 
tomed, as  every  farmer  ought  to  be,  to  think  for  him- 
self on  subjects  that  concern  his  own  interests  and  the 
interests  of  the  community,  but  unused  to  the  displa}' 
of  his  thoughts  in  public  —  now  takes  the  liberty  to 
address  you  ;  not  with  the  presumptuous  hope  of  being 
able  to  produce  conviction  by  the  powers  of  rhetoric  or 
the  wiles  of  sophistry  ;  but  with  the  humble  expectation, 
b}*  a  candid  statement  of  facts,  to  excite  inquiry,  rend 
from  a  subject  of  immense  public  importance  the  veil  of 
political  intrigue  and  self-interested  ambition  in  which 
it  has  been  shrouded,  and  present  to  your  consideration 
and  the  view  of  the  public  the  naked  question  of 
expediency  which  it  involves. 

"  I  think,  indeed,  my  brother  farmers,  east  of  the 
Seneca  to  the  Hudson,  thence  down  that  noble  river  to 
the  vicinity  of  New  York  —  embracing  at  least  a  moiety 
of  the  farming  interest  of  the  whole  State  —  may 
rationally  doubt  whether  the  completion  of  a  work 
which  has  for  its  avowed  object  the  bringing  of  the 
whole  western  world  to  compete  with  them  at  their  own 
market,  can  be  beneficial.  That  they  will  naturally 
ask  themselves  :  Why  should  I  be  taxed  to  effect  a  plan, 
which,  if  effected,  places  the  farmer  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Michigan  in  a  better  situation  than  myself,  and 
reduces  the  value  of  my  surplus  produce  exactly  in  the 
same  ratio  in  which  it  increases  the  quantity  brought 
to  mv  natural  market  ?  " 


90  MYROX   HOLLEY. 

After  working  this  vein  sufficiently,  the  writer 
argues  with  great  ingenuity,  that  transportation 
from  the  West  would  be  cheaper  by  Lake  Ontario 
than  by  the  canal,  trusting,  doubtless,  that  his 
In-other  farmers  would  see  that  Western  produce* 
once  afloat  on  the  lake,  would  be  as  likely  to  go 
somewhere  else  as  to  thread  the  canal  into  their 
"natural  market." 

But  for  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  Mr.  Holley, 
this  astute  pamphlet  would  have  had  a  most  disas- 
trous effect.  With  such  a  man  at  the  helm  of  the 
great  enterprise,  it  defeated  itself,  for  it  stirred 
him  up  to  get  a  large  portion  of  the  Western 
section  under  contract  and  in  process  of  construc- 
tion before  the  session  of.  the  legislature,  which 
otherwise  he  would  not  have  done.  He  saw  that 
the  best  answer  to  such  a  pamphlet  was  to  say  to 
the  legislature,  "  It  is  too  late.  You  ordered  the 
work ;  it  is  begun,  and  cannot  be  stopped  without 
immense  loss."  How  this  mighty  "Ploughshare" 
movement  was  defeated,  Mr.  Holley  modestly 
tells  in  a  letter  to  Henry  O'Rielly,  dated  Roches- 
ter, Dec.  18,  1837. 

From  the  beginning  of  our  great  svstem  of  canal 
improvements  a  strong  party  existed  in  the  state,  who 
favored  the  project  of  passing  from  the  middle  section  to 


THE    DIGGING.  91 

Lake  Erie,  by  way  of  Oswego  and  a  lateral  cut  around 
the  Falls  of  Niagara.  This  part}'  offered  no  strenuous 
resistance  to  the  opening  of  the  canal  from  the  Rome 
summit  to  Montezuma ;  but,  after  that  portion  of  the 
line  was  contracted  for  and  nearly  finished,  exerted 
itself  with  ingenuity  to  accomplish  its  object.  Its  views 
required  that  the  Canal  Commissioners  should  be 
restrained  b}T  the  legislature  from  making  contracts  for 
work  on  the  line  west  of  the  middle  section.  It  was  in 
the  winter  of  1820  that  the  crisis  arrived  between  the 
part}T  in  question  and  the  friends  of  the  inland  route. 

At  a  late  day  of  the  session  of  the  previous  winter 
authority  had  been  given  to  the  commissioners  to  extend 
their  operations  over  the  entire  lines  not  previousl}'  sur- 
veyed and  let  out,  of  both  the  Erie  and  Champlain 
Canals,  under  a  limited  but  liberal  appropriation.  This 
extension  of  authority  had  been  earnestly  opposed,  but 
not  very  vigorously,  because  full  concert  of  action  had 
not  been  secured  between  the  opponents  of  the  whole 
canal  polic}'  and  the  friends  of  the  Oswego  route  ;  and 
because  it  was  deemed  impracticable  b}'  the  public  for 
the  commissioners,  during  the  season  next  after  it  was 
granted,  to  do  much  more  than  to  complete  the  middle 
section  and  make  some  preliminaiy  surve3'S  on  the 
other  sections. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Seymour  and  myself  were  acting 
commissioners  on  the  Erie  Canal.  Early  in  the  season 
we  directed  Engineer  White  to  enter  upon  the  surve}'s 
between  the  Seneca  and  Genesee  Rivers.  The  facts 
previously  understood,  with  the  knowledge  soon  acquired 
by  Mr.  White,  left  no  room  for  doubt  or  hesitation  as  to 
the  general  location  of  the  line  between  Montezuma  and 


02  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

Rochester ;  and  this  latter  place  was  perceived  to  be  a 
necessary  point  on  the  line. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  with  a  special  refer- 
ence to  the  approaching  crisis  in  legislative  action,  in 
July,  I  directed  Mr.  White  to  proceed  to  Rochester  and 
ascertain  carefully  where  the  G-enessee  could  best  be 
crossed,  and  thence  to  lay  out  the  line  easterly  as  far  as 
he  could,  marking  its  dimensions  b}T  stakes,  and  dividing 
it  into  suitable  sections  for  actual  contract.  To  these 
directions  he  industriously  conformed. 

In  October,  1819,  the  Canal  Commissioners  held  a 
meeting  at  Utica.  Well  aware  of  the  progress  of  Mr. 
White,  I  moved  the  board  at  that  meeting  to  pass  a  resolu- 
tion that  all  the  line  east  from  Rochester,  located  and  pre- 
pared, should  be,  as  soon  as  practicable,  let  out  to 
contractors  and  put  in  the  course  of  actual  construction. 
This  motion  was  resisted  by  Mr.  Seymour,  but  was 
adopted  by  the  votes  of  Messrs.  Clinton,  Van  Rens- 
selaer and  myself,  Mr.  Young  not  being  present. 

Under  this  resolution  about  twent3T-six  miles  of 
canal,  from  Rochester  to  near  Palmyra,  were  let  out 
previously  to  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  and  a  large 
amount  of  money  justly  earned  upon  them. 

In  January,  1820,  the  legislature  met.  It  soon 
appeared  that  the  friends  of  the  Oswego  route  were 
determined  to  prosecute  their  views  with  increased  zeal 
and  pertinacity.  Both  in  the  legislature  and  out  of  it, 
they  were  numerous  and  active.  An  intelligent  canal 
committee  was  raised  in  the  Assembly,  with  Gen.  Hun- 
tington, of  Oneida  County,  for  its  chairman  ;  and  to 
them  were  referred  the  canal  interests  for  that  branch  of 
the  legislature. 

The  doubters  and  opposers  of  the  canal  polic}'  had 


THE    DIGGING.  93 

early  proposed  to  lay  a  local  tax  from  the  vicinity  of  the 
line  adopted,  to  assist  in  defraying  the  cost  of  the  works. 
A  resolution  in  favor  of  this  proposition  was  introduced, 
and  referred  to  the  committee.  But  the  great  measure 
of  the  friends  of  the  Oswego  route  was  a  resolution 
introduced  to  confine  all  canal  expenditures  to  the  eastern 
section  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the  Champlain  Canal  till 
the}'  should  both  be  completed.  This  resolution  was 
also  referred  to  the  canal  committee. - 

The  adoption  of  the  last  resolution  b}T  the  legislature, 
it  was  plain,  would  constitute  an  essential  modification 
of  the  state  polic}'.  The  subscriber  was  thoroughly  per- 
suaded that  such  a  modification  would  be  vitally  mis- 
chievous, and  labored  with  much  zeal  to  avert  it.  The 
committee  requested  the  views  of  the  Canal  Commission- 
ers on  the  two  resolutions.  In  answer  to  this  request, 
a  letter  was  drawn  up  b}r  me,  with  great  labor  of  inquiry 
and  anxious  consideration,  and  submitted  to  the 
board.  A  majority  of  the  board  approved  it,  signed  it, 
and  sent  it  to  the  committee.  Messrs.  Young  and  Sey- 
mour witheld  their  sanction  from  it.  The  committee 
reported  so  in  favor  of  the  views  presented  in  the  letter 
as  to  advise  against  interfering  with  the  plans  of  the  com- 
missioners. Their  report  was  opposed  with  much  warmth 
and  persistency,  but  prevailed,  and  the  legislature 
upheld  the  polic}',  which  led  to  the  speedy  completion 
of  the  canals,  and  has  already  issued  so  happily  for  the 
interests  and  honor  of  the  state. 

The  motive  under  which  Mr.  Holley  acted  so 
vigorously  and  efficiently  was  a  vision  of  the 
future,  well  expressed  in  a  sentence  of  his  subse- 


94  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

quent  answer  to  the  cunningly  hypocritical  "  Peter 
Ploughshare." 

"When  they  [the  canals]  are  complete,  the  wealth 
of  every  island  and  every  lake,  of  every  continent  and 
every  ocean  which  is  visited  by  the  light  of  heaven, 
will  contribute  to  weary  their  waters  with  commerce." 

The  facts  as  stated  bv  Mr.  Hollev  in  regard  to 
this  decisive  blow  were  never  questioned  by  the 
opponents  of  the  canal. 

About  two  years  after  this  grand  practical 
victory,  De  Witt  Clinton,  under  the  pseudonym 
of  Tacitus,  brought  forth  in  pamphlet  form  prob- 
ably the  ablest  production  of  his  pen,  under  the 
title, 

"The  Canal  Policy  of  the  State  of  New  York,  de- 
lineated in  a  letter  to  Robt.  Troup,  Esq. 

"  '  Nothing  extenuate, 
Nor  set  clown  aught  in  malice.' — Shakespeare. 


"Albany:  Printed  and  published  by  E.  &  E.  Hos- 
ford,  1821." 


On  page  45,  he  says  : 

"Mr.  Holkw  and  Mr.  Young  were  authorized  to 
make  contracts,  and  to  the  judicious  and  indefatigable 
efforts  of  those  gentlemen,  too  much  credit  cannot  be 
ascribed." 


THE    DIGGING.  95 

And  it  is  jrreatlv  to  the  credit  of  De  TTitt 
Clinton  himself  that  he  did  not  content  himself,  so 
far  as  Mr.  Hollev  was  concerned,  with  this 
sentence,  but  adds  in  a  note  on  the  same  page  :  — 

;*  Mr.  Hollev  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  when 
the  initiatory  canal  law  was  passed,  which  he  advocated 
with  the  whole  force  of  his  talents.  This  gentleman  is 
a  member  of  a  numerous  family  distinguished  for  genius. 
His  mind  is  improved  by  reading,  reflection  and  conver- 
sation, and  is  distinguished  for  extensive  research,  and 
acute  discrimination.  He  has  devoted  his  whole  time 
and  attention,  mind  and  body,  to  the  canal ;  and  some 
of  the  most  luminous  reports  and  communications  have 
proceeded  from  his  pen.  Whatever  he  touches  he 
adorns,  and  whenever  he  speaks  or  writes  he  instructs. 
His  mild  and  conciliatory  manners,  his  elevated  charac- 
ter, his  spotless  integrity,  and  his  indefatigable  business 
talents,  have  rendered  his  services  as  an  acting  Canal 
Commissioner  invaluable." 

Every  year  of  Mr.  Holley's  after  life  confirmed 
and  emphasized  this  noble  testimony  to  his  char- 
acter. The  way  in  which  he  pushed  the  great 
work  forward,  shouldering  responsibility  himself 
when  the  state  failed  to  meet  the  contracts  it  had 
authorized  him  to  make  ;  the  way  he  bore  himself 
when  this  self-sacrifice  had  thrown  him  into  embar- 
rassment ;  his  uncomplaining  sedateness  of  temper 
when  he  met  the  cold  ingratitude  of  a  republic 


96  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

enriched  by  his  sublime  foresight  and  toil ;  the 
power,  dignity  and  wisdom  with  which  he  admin- 
istered his  part  of  that  rebuke  which  taught  secret 
societies  their  place  in  the  republic  ;  his  opposition 
to  fanatical  revivalism  ;  and,  above  all,  his  grand 
and  practical  energy  in  making  the  ballot-box  the 
safeguard  of  human  liberty,  all  established  his 
title  to  be  remembered,  as  an  example  of  virtuous 
manhood,  by  the  remotest  ages  of  the  future. 


ECONOMY,    PUBLIC    AND    PRIVATE.  97 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ECONOMY,    PUBLIC    AND    PPJVATE. 

This  is  the  proper  place  to  notice  a  trait  of 
Myron  Holler's  character  to  which  he  owed  the 
suffering:  which  he  bore  with  a  heroism  more  un- 
common  than  the  suffering;.  It  is  not  uncommon 
for  men  who  are  enthusiastically  engaged  in  public 
service  to  forg;et  their  own  individual  interests  :  but 
they  are  apt,  at  the  same  time,  to  be  rather  care- 
less of  economy  for  the  public.  In  Mr.  Holley's 
management  of  the  public  business  his  economy 
was  most  exemplary.  His  fault  was  that  he 
guarded  its  interests  more  carefully  than  he  did  his 
own.  This  cannot  be  better  illustrated  than  by 
the  report  in  regard  to  canal  expenses. 

The  Act  of  April  17,  1816,  appropriated  820,- 
000  for  preliminary  expenses.  The  comptroller  at 
the  call  of  the  Assembly,  reported  April  2,  1817, 
that  the  expenses  under  this  appropriation  up  to 
that  date  were  $16,930.29.  The  Commissioners  at 
the  same  date  reported  their  expenses,  included  in 


98  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

the  above,  as  $2,478.17.  This  report,  signed  by 
Clinton,  Holley,  and  Young,  is  exceedingly  inter- 
esting as  showing  the  economy  of  public  service 
at  that  period. 

After  an  apology  for  not  making  the  report 
earlier,  the  document  proceeds  : 

"  The  expenses  of  the  commissioners  include  the 
expenses  of  travelling  at  various  periods  —  of  their 
visit  to  the  Middlesex  Canal  —  and  of  their  superintend- 
ence of  the  whole  route  of  both  canals  —  of  their  meet- 
ings at  various  times,  and  are  brought  up  to  their  first 
meeting,  the  present  session  of  the  legislature. 

The}'  consist  of  the  following  sums  :  — 

Expenses  of  commissioners'  meeting,  17 
May,  1816,  in  New  York,  including  the 
expense  of  going  there,  of  sta}'  there,  of 
two  commissioners,  with  two  engineers, 
going  to  view  the  Middlesex  canal,  stay 
there,  and  return  home,  .         .         .       $515  00 

Expenses  of  commissioners  in  meeting  at 
Utica  on  the  15th  Jury,  while  there,  while 
exploring  the  route  of  the  western  canal, 
and  returning  home,       ....     $1,080  \2 

Expenses  of  the  commissioners  in  exploring 
the  northern  canal,  and  directing  opera- 
tions thereon,         .         ...         .  .       $G79  19 

Expenses  of  commissioners  in  meeting  at 
Albany  in  November  last,  and  returning 
home,   .         .  .  .  .  .  .       $193  8G 


The  whole  of  the  items  amount  to       .  .  $2,408  17 


ECONOMY,    PUBLIC   AND    PRIVATE.  99 

Considering  that  upwards  of  313  miles  on  the  western 
canal,  besides  that  part  of  the  route  south  of  the  moun- 
tain ridge  and  west  of  Genesee  River,  and  more  than  60 
miles  on  the  northern  canal,  have  been  explored,  sur- 
veved  and  levelled  ;  that  the  routes  of  the  canals  have 
been  actually  laid  out,  that  perspicuous  maps  and  pro- 
files have  been  made,  and  that  full  reports  have  been 
presented,  it  is  believed  that  no  operation  so  extensive, 
so  complicated  and  so  important,  has  ever  been  per- 
formed with  more  economy  of  expenditure. 

A  sum  not  exceeding  §4.000  will  be  required  in 
addition  to  that  part  of  the  appropriation  which  is 
unexpended,  to  complete  the  payment  of  the  engineers 
for  their  services  ;  to  defray  the  expenses  of  printing, 
engraving  and  stationery,  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
meeting  of  the  commissioners  and  their  attendance  on 
their  duties  during  the  present  session  of  the  legislature  ; 
to  satisf}'  some  demands  not  }'ct  presented,  and  also  to 
make  a  reasonable  compensation  to  the  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  board,  whose  time  since  the  first  meet- 
ing in  May  has  been  almost  exclusively  engrossed  in 
discharging  these  trusts,  and  in  attending  to  their  general 
duties  as  commissioners." 

The  report  might  well  boast  that  so  much  and 
so  important  work  had  never  been  done  for  $24,- 
000.  And  the  credit  of  it  was  mainly  due  to  Mr. 
Hollev,  who  himself  was  treasurer  of  the  board, 
for  which  extra  service  from  1816  to  1824  inclu- 
sive he  never  received  a  cent  of  pay. 

During  that   year  Holley  and  Young   were  the 


100  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

only  acting  commissioners,  the  former  acting  as 
treasurer,  and  the  latter  as  secretary.  They  were 
allowed  by  the  Board  $2,500  a  year  and  expenses. 
The  other  commissioners  were  only  allowed  ex- 
penses. In  1819  the  state  fixed  their  salary  at 
$2,500  and  expenses,  which  in  1820  was  reduced 
to  $2,000. 


EMBARRASSMENT.  101 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


EMBARRASSMENT. 


Out  of  this  exceedingly  meagre  compensation 
—  meagre  even  at  that  time  for  a  labor  and 
responsibility  so  vastly  important  —  Mr.  Holley 
managed,  in  company  with  two  friends,  to  secure 
a  small  tract  of  land  at  Lyons,  on  the  line  of  the 
canal,  where  he  built  a  plain,  substantial  and 
convenient  house,  planted  fruit  trees,  and  naade 
himself  a  home.  A  man  of  his  calibre,  looking 
out  for  himself,  could  easily  have  secured  terri- 
tory, which,  by  the  inevitable  rise  of  real  estate 
in  favored  spots  on  such  a  work,  would  have 
made  him  rich.  He  no  more  did  that  than  he 
thought  of  fortifying  himself  against  the  extra 
risks  of  having  to  disburse  such  large  sums  of 
money  for  the  state. 

Hence  it  was,  that  after  the  success  of  the  great 
work  had  become  triumphantly  assured,  after 
boats  were  traversing  280  miles  of  it,  and  it  was 
certain  that  it  would  be  completed  without  much 


102  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

exceeding  the  original  estimate,  with  aqueducts 
of  stone  where  wood  had  been  contemplated,  Mr. 
Holley,  on  his  own  motion  and  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  friends  and  enemies,  reported  to  the 
legislature  that  he  found  a  deficiency  of  vouchers 
of  about  $30,000  to  account  for  the  two  and  a  half 
millions  of  the  public  money  which  he  had  had  to 
disburse,  and  he  most  reasonably  asked  the 
legislature  to  allow  him  a  commission  on  that 
sum,  which  would,  at  least,  make  him  square. 
Inasmuch  as,  by  the  dilatoriness  of  the  state,  he 
had  often,  to  keep  contractors  at  work,  been 
obliged  to  raise  funds  on  his  own  credit,  which 
had  enhanced  the  risk  of  his  treasurership,  and 
considering  what  the  state  had  saved  by  obliging 
him  to  circulate  small  bank  bills  instead  of  paying 
his  multitude  of  contractors  by  check,  this  seemed 
to  many  then,  and  must  to  all  now,  a  reasonable 
request.  The  legislature's  refusal  to  allow  this 
commission,  obliging  him  to  make  good  the 
deficiency  out  of  his  slender  property,  is  perhaps 
the  meanest  piece  of  ingratitude  ever  chargeable 
against  a  republic.  The  State  of  New  York  is 
convicted  of  this  by  its  own  documents.  For  an 
investigating  committee,  representing  Mr.  Holley's 
enemies    as    well    as    his    friends,     unanimously 


q 


EMBARRASSMENT.  10.' 

acquitted  hini  of  having  applied  a  single  dollar  of 
that  deficiency  to  his  own  use.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  ignorant,  there  was  not  one  of  his 
opponents  base  enough  to  make  that  charge 
against  him  publicly  till,  when,  years  after,  be 
was  a  candidate  of  a  party  which  grew  out  of  the 
murder  of  "William  Morgan. 

The  request  which  Mr.  Holley  made  to  the 
legislature  on  the  30th  of  March,  1824,  is  too 
characteristic  of  him  to  be  omitted  here.  His 
words  were  : 

w  To  the  performance  of  my  official  duties 
I  have  i*6 w,  for  eight  years,  devoted  the 
best  faculties  of  body  and  mind,  under  all 
vicissitudes  and  apprehensions,  with  con- 
stant, persevering  and  lively  zeal.  I  have 
been  withdrawn  from  the  education  of  my 
children,  have  relinquished  the  enjoyments 
of  domestic  life,  have  encountered,  without 
flinching,  all  the  dangers  of  sickness,  in 
seasons  and  situations  eminently  unhealthy, 
whenever  and  wherever  my  duties  have 
required,  and  have  labored  with  effect  in 
promoting  the  object  of  my  appointment. 
*     *     *     At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Canal 


104  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

Board,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1816,  I  was 
appointed  treasurer  of  the  Canal  Commis- 
sioners, and  have  ever  since  performed  the 
duties  of  that  office,  and  have  always 
thought  myself  entitled  to  a  reasonable  and 
adequate  compensation  therefor.  This  com- 
pensation I  have  not  asked  of  the  Canal 
Commissioners,  because  a  majority  of  that 
Board  are  so  situated  as  to  render  prefer- 
ring such  a  claim  to  them  for  decision, 
indelicate.  But  I  perceive  no  such  indeli- 
cacy in  preferring  it  to  the  legislature. 
And  of  you  I  ask  to  be  paid  one  per  cent, 
upon  the  amount  of  monies  received  and 
disbursed  by  me  towards  the  construction 
of  the  canals.  With  the  aid  of  this  allow- 
ance I  can  immediately  make  arrangements 
to  pay  up  fully  my  accounts  with  the 
Comptroller.  And  this  claim  commends 
itself  to  my  sense  of  justice,  in  consideration 
of  the  extra  expense,  service  and  hazard, 
which  the  receipt  and  payment  of  this 
money  has  involved." 


EMBARRASSMENT.  105 

Why  he  did  not  prefer  this  claim  to  the  legisla- 
ture  earlier,  need  hardly  he  said.  His  patriotic 
zeal  to  avoid  giving:  the  watchful  enemies  of  the 
great  work  any  pretext  for  stopping  it,  outran  his 
personal  discretion.  He  sacrificed  himself  for  the 
future  of  his  race,  trusting  it  would  do  him  justice. 
It  is  not  too  late  for  this  generation  to  do  it. 
What  he  told  the  legislature  of  his  exposure  to 
the  danger  of  sickness,  "in  seasons  and  situations 
eminently  unhealthy,"  was  no  idle  boast.  In 
1820,  between  the  months  of  July  and  October, 
not  less  than  one  thousand  men  employed  upon 
the  canal  between  Salina  and  Seneca  River  were 
prostrated  by  malaria.  To  the  sick,  Holley  was 
alwavs  a  ministering  angel,  a  friend  in  need,  and 
as  such  he  was  long  gratefully  remembered  by 
individuals  who  had  experienced  his  kindness. 
The  writer  received  the  following  illustration  of 
this  trait  in  his  character  from  his  daughter  Sallie, 
so  well  known  as  a  teacher  in  the  colored  school 
in  Lottsburgh,  Ya. 

"  My  father's  benevolence  was  like  an  overflowing 
fountain,  especially  toward  the  poor  and  helpless.  One 
of  the  very  earliest  illustrations  of  his  kind  nature, 
outside  of  our  own  family  (that  I  can  remember) 
occurred  in  ISO 2.  A  solitary  case  of  Asiatic  cholera 
in  Lyons,  our  village,  resulted  in  the  death  of  the  poor 


106  MYROX    HOLLEY. 

woman,  living  near  the  canal  locks.  The  panic-stricken 
neighbors  all  fled.  Nobody  could  be  found  who  dared 
to  go  near  to  bury  the  body.  As  soon  as  m}T  father 
heard  it,  he  at  once  volunteered  his  services,  and  asked 
the  next  prominent  citizen  to  aid  him  in  canring  the 
body  to  the  grave,  which  they  did,  to  the  wonder  of  the 
villagers.  Such  an  example  did  more  to  restore  tran- 
quillity to  the  excited  community  than  medicine  or 
preaching." 

Though  Mr.  Holley  had  conducted  this  arduous 
and  dangerous  business  of  constructing  the  canal 
through  a  region  of  deadly  malaria,  with  an  unselfish 
devotion  and  a  democratic  spirit  which  attached 
to  him  the  humblest  laborers,  as  will  be  touchingly 
shown  by  and  by,  the  moment  be  bad  so  honorably 
confessed  this  comparatively  slight  deficiency  in 
bis  accounts,  some  of  the  bitter  and  defeated  ene- 
mies of  the  canal  policy  anonymously  raised  a 
howl  against  him  through  the  press  as  a  criminal 

CD  ~  J. 

defaulter.  This  howl  even  terrified  his  political 
friends  of  the  AVhig  party,  so  that  they  dared  not 
do  what  they  knew  to  be  just.  And  the  Demo- 
crats, wdio  in  spite  of  their  leader,  Martin  Van 
Buren,  had  mostly  opposed  the  canal,  made  all  the 
political  capital  they  could  out  of  the  humiliation 
of  a  man  who  had  enriched  his  state  by  being  a 
genuine   democrat.      As  the  legislature  did  not 


EMBARRASSMENT.  107 

see  fit  to  grant  his  most  reasonable  request,  Mr. 
Holley  resigned  bis  commissionersbip  and  made 
over  bis  property  to  tbe  state  to  satisfy  a  defi- 
ciency which  arose  from  no  fault  of  his.  This 
property  was  appraised  at  $18,000,  though  its 
prospective  value  was  doubtless  considerably 
more.  Its  alienation  left  Mr.  Holley  with  a  large 
family  and  no  resources  outside  of  himself.  His 
little  property  was  finally  restored  to  him  by  the 
state,  not  as  a  gratuity,  but  as  a  debt  —  interest 
and  costs  not  included. 

Mr.  Holley's  temper  and  patience  during  the 
four  years  in  which,  for  his  family's  sake,  he  was 
seeking  this  simple  act  of  justice,  while  he  had 
such  an  overwhelming  claim  on  the  generosity  and 
gratitude  of  not  only  the  state  but  the  whole 
world,  is  something  more  to  be  admired  than  any 
miracle  recorded  in  history.  Whether  Hercules 
went  through  any  such  experience  after  the  valu- 
able labors  for  which  he  was  deified,  history  does 
not  inform  us.  It  is  of  more  importance  to  the 
people  of  our  great  republic  to  know  how  our 
modern  Hercules  bore  the  ingratitude  of  the  Em- 
pire  State  than  how  he  led  the  pathway  of  com- 
merce through  her  Serbonian  bo^s. 

It  has  already  been  detailed  how,  on  the  20th  of 


108  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

October,  1819,  Mr.  Holley  struck  the  decisive 
blow  which  gave  his  great  enterprise  its  assured 
success  and  New  York  her  glory  as  the  leader  of 
our  mighty  march  of  internal  improvement.  We 
can  better  realize  what  the  whole  country  owed 
him  by  considering  what  Thomas  Jefferson  wrote 
to  De  Witt  Clinton,  Dec.  12,  1822. 

"  New  York,"  said  the  Sage  of  Monticello,  "  has  an- 
ticipated by  a  full  century  the  ordinary  progress  of 
improvement.  This  great  work  suggests  a  question, 
both  curious  and  difficult,  as  to  the  comparative  capa- 
bility of  nations  to  execute  great  enterprises.  It  is 
not  from  greater  surplus  of  produce,  after  supplying 
their  own  wants,  for  in  this  New  York  is  not  bej'ond 
some  other  States  ;  is  it  from  other  sources  of  industry 
additional  to  her  produce  ?  This  may  be  ; — or  is  it 
a  moral  superiority?  —  a  sounder  calculating  mind, 
as  to  the  most  profitable  emplo3'ment  of  surplus, 
b}r  improvement  of  capital,  instead  of  useless  consump- 
tion ?  I  should  lean  to  this  latter  lrypothesis,  were  I 
disposed  to  puzzle  nryself  with  such  investigations." — 
Dr.  Hosack's  Life  of  Clinton,  page  348. 

Whoever  will  weigh  the  facts,  and  especially 
those  that  immediately  follow,  will  see  that  the 
"  moral  superiority "  of  a  single  individual  had  a 
great  deal  to  do  in  solving  the  riddle  which  puzzled 
Mr.  Jefferson. 

Immediately  on  Mr.  Hoi  ley's  calling  the  atten- 


EMBARRASSMENT.  109 

tion  of  the  legislature  to  the  deficiency  in  his 
accounts,  about  one-half  of  which  consisted  in 
outstanding  notes  signed  by  himself,  on  which  con- 
tractors  had  drawn  money  from  the  banks,  the 
other  active  commissioners,  Seymour,  Young, 
and  Bouck,  who  had  disbursed  money  from  the 
state,  demanded  that  their  accounts  should  be 
examined,  so  that  their  own  party,  the  demo- 
cratic, should  not  suffer  from  the  storm  apparently 
rifting  against  Mr.  Hollev.  The  same  committee 
which  vindicated  them  in  1824  *  did  not  thoroughly 

*  Though  Mr.  Hollev  was  treasurer  of  the  Caual  Commis- 
sioners, by  their  own  appointment,  neither  they  nor  the  state 
seem  to  have  recognized  him  as  such,  for  they  individually 
received  money  of  the  state  which  was  entrusted  to  and 
charged  to  them  individually,  without  regard  to  their  treas- 
urer. Hence  it  may  have  happened  that  packages  of  paper 
money,  charged  and  transmitted  to  Mr.  Holley  for  the  use  of 
the  canal,  fell  into  the  hands  of  some  other  commissioner 
engaged  in  disbursement.  "The  fact  that  every  other  com- 
missioner could  show  vouchers  of  disbursement  for  every 
dollar  charged  to  him  individually,  was  no  proof  that  this 
did  not  happen.  When  one  of  the  commissioners, — by  no 
means  on  account  of  poverty, — some  years  after  shot  himself 
in  his  own  back-yard ,  the  defect  in  the  financial  arrangements 
between  the  state  and  the  Canal  Commissioners  became  ap- 
parent to  some  thoughtful  persons.  The  mistake  of  Mr. 
Holley  was,  that  being  treasurer  of  the  Canal  Commissioners, 
he  did  not  oblige  them  and  the  state  to  recognize  him  as  such, 
and  so  keep  his  accounts  that  he  could  not  be  held  responsi- 
ble  for  money  which  he  did  not  receive.  It  is  not  safe  to 
trust  even  a  state. 


110  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

vindicate  Mr.  Holler,  but  reported  that  his  prop- 
erty in  Lyons  was  worth  only  $16,000  or  $18,000, 
and  said  :  '*  It  appears  that  it  was  made  a  condi- 
tion in  the  canal  loans  that  the  bills  of  the  banks 
that  made  the  loan  should  be  circulated  on  the  line 
of  the  canal,  and  this  consideration,  as  appears  by 
a  statement  of  the  cashiers  of  the  State  and  Me- 
chanics' Banks,  has  caused  a  saving  to  the  state 
in  the  negotiation  of  certain  loans." 

A  committee  was  ordered  to  investigate  further 
during  the  recess.  It  did  not  find  Mr.  Holley 
guilty  of  any  embezzlement  whatever,  and  so  re- 
ported. As  the  bondsmen  could  not  be  held 
responsible,  the  legislature  passed  an  act,  March  7, 
1825,  to  pay  the  notes,  amounting  to  $15,808.58, 
and  April  21, 1825,  and  an  act  authorizing  the  Canal 
Commissioners  to  settle  with  Mr.  Holley  and  take 
the  real  estate  conveyed  by  him,  but  not  to  pay 
any  percentage  on  his  disbursements.  This  action 
was  by  no  means  up  to  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee, which  set  forth  that  by  reason  of  Mr.  Holley's 
meritorious  and  valuable  services  as  Canal  Commis- 
sioner, the  great  difficulties  by  which  he  had  been 
surrounded  in  disbursing  moneys  in  one,  three  and 
five-dollar  bills,  amidst  woods,  swamps,  and  new 
settlements,  constantly  exposed  to  mistakes,  some 


EMBARRASSMENT.  Ill 

of  which  had  been  ascertained,  and  others  rendered 
highly  probable,  &c.,  &c.,  the  committee  recom- 
mended that  the  state  accept  a  conveyance  of  Mr. 
Holley's  real  estate  (reserving  thereout  Mr.  Hol- 
ler's house,  lot,  and  improvements,  in  Lyons, 
worth  $3,000),  and  discharge  him  and  his  sureties 
altogether.  The  bill  to  this  effect  was  considered 
as  making  Mr.  Holley  a  donation  of  $3,000,  and  by 
a  rule  of  the  Assembly  must  have  a  two -thirds 
vote.  It  passed  the  Assembly  72  to  38,  thus 
wanting  two  votes  to  become  a  law,  to  the  disgrace 
of  the  state.  Hardlv  anvthina'  could  be  conceived 
more  pitiful.  A  man  who  could  command  his 
temper  under  such  provocation,  who  could  appeal 
his  cause  to  future  intelligence,  from  a  legislature 
so  besotted  with  stupidity  and  meanness,  must  be 
no  ordinary  mortal.  But  Mr.  Holley 's  faith  in 
human  nature  did  not  fail,  for  total  depravity  was 
no  part  of  his  creed. 

Myron  Holley  knew  that  his  services  would 
be  appreciated  in  time,  and  whether  they  were  or 
not,  he  knew  he  was  the  benefactor  of  those  who 
most  railed  at  him.  As  he  was  an  advocate  of 
free  speech  and  the  equal  representation  of  all 
classes,  he  could  listen  with  composure  to  the  un- 
just judgments  of  the  ignorant,  or  even  be  amused 


112  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

at  them.  His  daughter  relates  how  he  used  to 
laugh  at  the  speech  of  a  partially  intoxicated  dem- 
ocrat in  the  Assembly,  who  said  he  had  "  frequently 
rode  by  Mrs.  Myron  Holley's  bleach-yard  in  Lyons 
and  seen  three  thousand  yards  of  linen  lace 
bleaching, — that  the  family  bought  oranges  by 
the  bushel  —  made  no  more  of  'em  than  he  did  of 
praties  —  and  drove  about  in  the  most  elegant 
coach  of  the  country,"  —  alluding  to  an  old  stage- 
coach  which  Mr.  Holley  had  taken  for  a  debt.  His 
daughter  also  says  of  this  period  :  "  I  have  often 
heard  my  father  speak  with  emotion  of  a  little  cir- 
cumstance that  occurred  in  Albany  at  the  height 
of  his  accusation.  One  day  as  he  was  walking-  by 
Gourley's,  the  hotel  where  all  members  of  the 
legislature  and  many  other  gentlemen  stopped,  the 
front  piazza  was  thronged  with  a  great  crowd  of 
these  gentlemen,  when  the  Presbyterian  minister 
came  out  from  among  them  all,  and  most  cordially 
and  warmly  seized  1113'  father's  hand  in  both  of  his, 
and  in  the  tenderest  tone  possible  remarked  :  r  Mr. 
Holley,  I  know  you  are  an  innocent  man,  for  no 
one  else  could  wear  the  look  of  your  countenance  ! 
I  ask  you  to  be  my  friend,  as  I  am  truly  yours.'" 
Mr.  Holley  had  a  most  charming  and  lovely 
family,  —  sons  and  daughters,  blooming  and  bud- 


EMBARRASSMENT.  113 

ding; — and  conscious  of  his  own  honest  and  tri- 
umphant service  of  the  public,  his  heart  turned  to 
them  with  all  the  fervor  of  health  and  hope.  The 
black  cloud  gathering  over  his  affairs  and  threaten- 
ing  to  leave  him  houseless,  only  intensified  his 
affection  for  those  he  loved  best,  and  for  his  whole 
country  as  well.  His  grand  old  father,  Luther 
Holley,  was  still  living  in  Salisbury,  Connecti- 
cut. Released  from  the  canal  service,  previous  to 
the  legislative  action  already  related,  he  visited 
the  place  of  his  birth.  And  now,  instead  of  the 
rumbling  old  sta^e  coach,  was  the  delightful  canal 
packet, — which,  even  in  these  days  of  parlor  cars, 
old  people  look  back  to  with  some  regret.  Here 
are,  in  full,  two  of  the  letters  he  wrote  on  this 
trip,  one  to  the  second  of  his  daughters,  and  the 
other  .to  his  father  at  Salisbury,  after  his  return 
from  that  place. 

Three  Miles  Below  Utica,  ^ 

Ox  Board  the  Packet  Samuel  Yox'xg,  £ 

13th  August,  1824.     ) 

My  Dear  Clarissa,  —  Our  passage  thus  far  has 
been  altogether  convenient  and  agreeable,  the  boats 
having  been  not  overcrowded,  and  the  passengers 
having  been  many  of  them  intelligent  and  agreeable. 
There  have  come  on  board  the  boat,  from  Utica  to 
Schenactady,  six  }'oung  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who 
have  been  on  a  tour  of  curiosity  and  pleasure,  to  visit 


114  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

the  Falls  of  Niagara,  the  Falls  of  Trenton,  and  several 
other  places  between  New  York  and  Niagara  River. 
They  seemed  to  have  belonged  to  two  parties,  who 
separated  at  Utica  on  their  way  out,  and  have  met  at 
the  same  place  on  their  return.  And  the  gratification 
of  witnessing  their  cordiality,  and  hearing  their  gay 
and  animated  remarks  on  the  several  occurrences 
which  have  interested  them  since  their  separation,  is 
livel}'.  They  have  been  well  educated  and  accustomed 
to  genteel  association,  and  feeling  and  exhibiting,  as 
the}'  do,  the  ardor  and  liveliness  natural  to  young  and 
happ}7"  travellers  through  a  country  abounding  with 
many  beautiful,  novel  and  magnificent  objects,  their 
conversation  is  not  only  charming  to  themselves,  but  to 
all  who  listen  to  it.  One  of  the  most  interesting  asso- 
ciations which  necessarily  connects  itself  with  it  in  my 
mind,  belongs  to  1113'  own  dear  daughters  and  sons.  I 
hope  one  da}T  to  see  }Tou  more  accomplished  than  either 
of  them,  and  happy  as  the}'  appear  to  be.  And  I  know 
3^011  will  not  lose  the  opportunhy,  offered  to  3Tou  at 
Geneva,  of  qualif}*ing  3Tourself  to  sustain  the  elegant 
and  interesting  part  which  the  3'oung  ladies  above 
alluded  to  are  pla3'ing  here,  but  also  to  discharge  with 
propriet3'  and  self-satisfaction,  the  more  important  part 
beloncinor  to  the  most  serious  duties  of  life. 

I  know  that  3'ou  and  Elizabeth  will  approve  3-our- 
selves  good  scholars,  and  obtain  the  applause  and 
respect  of  3Tour  teacher.  But  with  the  literary  acquisi- 
tions and  other  accomplishments  which  3*ou  will  not 
fail  to  have,  I  am  desirous  of  impressing  upon  3-011  most 
earnest!}'  the  importance  of  cultivating  and  preserving 
an  equal  temper. 

After  long  experience  of  life,  nothing  is  more  effec- 


EMBARRASSMENT.  115 

tually  established  in  my  mind  than  the   indispensable 

necessity  of  good  temper  to  enjoyment,  if  not  to  respec- 
tability. Xo  situation  in  which  you  have  ever  been 
placed  was  calculated  to  affect  your  future  happiness  so 
much  as  that  in  which  vou  will  find  yourself  at  Geneva. 
TVith  vour  sister,  who  is  very  lively,  sensitive  and  even 
irritable,  you  will  find  it  sometimes  difficult  to  maintain 
that  even,  affectionate  and  amiable  intercourse,  which 
it  is  of  great  importance  that  you  and  she  should  always 
hold  together,  and  as  you  are  the  oldest  and  the  most 
sedate,  the  responsibility  of  keeping  up  such  intercourse 
will  chiefly  devolve  on  you.  Elizabeth  is  tender,  affec- 
tionate and  grateful  naturally.  And  if  she  sees  vou 
overlooking  some  provocations,  and  determined  to  live 
with  her  on  the  footing  of  an  amiable  elder  sister,  I  am 
persuaded  she  will  determine  not  to  be  outdone  in  the 
good  offices  which  will  so  peculiarly  become  you  both, 
in  all  your  associations,  and  harmony  between  you  will 
recommend  not  less  than  literary  attainments.  Before 
you  will  have  been  long  at  Geneva  I  hope  to  visit  3-011, 
and  to  provide,  as  far  as  I  shall  be  able,  all  that  maybe 
wanting:  to  make  your  studies  and  vour  life  useful  and 
pleasant. 

In  the  meantime  and  ever  be  assured  that  3-011  and 
Elizabeth  are  now,  and  will  alwa3"s  be,  objects  of  my 
strongest  affection. 

Myron  Holley. 

0 

Albany,  31st  August,  1S24. 

Dear  Father,  —  Robert  and  I  arrived  here  yesterday, 
a  little  before  5  o'clock  p.m..  having  come  from 
Hudson  on  a  return  post  coach.  lly  travelling  has 
probably  been  beneficial  to  1113-  health,  for  I  now  feel 


116  MYKON    HOLLEY. 

entirely  recovered,  with  reasonable  appetite,  and  for 
the  two  last  nights  have  slept  sufficient!}'  without  any 
medicinal  aid. 

You  have  learned  from  Alexander  that  Edward  and 
his  family  were  well,  and  that  no  news  existed  at 
Hudson  of  any  interest.  Our  ride  from  Salisbury  was 
pleasant,  but  from  Hudson  here,  in  consequence  of  the 
roads  being  very  dust}'  and  wind  being  with  us,  we 
were  very  much  annoved  and  thoroughly  covered  with 
dust. 

I  have  found  no  letter  here  from  home,  from  which  I 
infer  that  all  is  well  there.  This  city  is  alive  with  the 
expectation  of  soon  being  honored  with  the  presence  of 
La  Fayette.  Great  preparations  are  making  to  do  him 
honor,  and  he  is  expected  here  on  Thursday.  Gen. 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  is  to  meet  him,  by  order  of 
the  governor,  at  the  line  of  the  state  bordering  on 
Massachusetts,  with  a  detachment  of  horse,  for  the 
purpose  of  escorting  him  to  Albany,  where,  in  front  of 
the  Capitol  within  the  public  green,  an  arch  is  erected 
for  the  occasion.  In  front  of  the  Capitol,  at  the  second 
story  above  the  piazza  or  vestibule,  a  gallery  is  erected, 
as  I  understand,  to  be  filled  by  ladies  who  mean  to  aid 
in  giving  a  public  welcome  to  "  the  nation's  guest." 
Perhaps  from  this  place,  some  one  of  them,  to  be 
selected  for  her  beauty  and  accomplishments,  may 
bestow  upon  the  head  of  the  hero  of  the  occasion,  and 
one  of  the  most  disinterested  and  constant  asserters  of 
liberty  in  the  world,  a  wreath  of  flowers,  or  some  other 
emblems  of  praise  and  gratitude,  suitable  to  the  sim- 
plicity and  sincerity  of  republican  manners.  Such  a 
wreath,  on  such  an  occasion,  and  so  bestowed,  would 
be  more  dear  to  a  gallant  and  feeling  heart  than  all 


EMBARRASSMENT.  117 

the  rewards  of  chivalry,  and  would  make  La  Fayette  the 
happiest  inan  in  the  world. 

If  La»Fayette  returns  to  France,  what  effect  upon  his 
situation  there  will  the  voluntary  honors  he  is  receiving 
in  this  country  have?  Will  they  not  make  the  ad- 
herents of  arbitrary  rule  envious  of  him,  and  induce 
them  to  traduce,  villify  and  injure  him?  All  men  of 
sense  will  perceive  that  he  is  receiving  in  this  countiy  a 
higher  and  more  illustrious  distinction  than  can,  or  ever 
could,  be  conferred  by  kings  or  emperors,  with  all  their 
generosity  and  magnificence  ;  because  this  distinction 
proceeds  from  the  -unbought,  sincere,  deep-felt,  univer- 
sal love  of  a  reflecting,  intelligent,  sober-minded  people, 
without  art  or  hypocrisy,  in  the  ingenuous,  straightfor- 
ward exercise  of  their  feelings.  In  my  opinion,  the 
state  of  the  general  feeling  in  this  country  towards 
La  Fayette  is  creditable  to  our  People,  and  argues  well 
for  the  interests  of  humanity.  The  great  distinction 
and  advantage  of  this  age  over  all  preceding  ages,  is, 
that  public  sympathy  and  public  opinion  are  much  more 
controlling  and  imperative  than  they  ever  were  before  ; 
and  that  the}*  should  be  manifested  in  a  manner  so 
spontaneous,  and  so  lively,  and  so  universal,  in  our 
countiy,  and  in  behalf  of  one  so  disinterested  and  so 
worthy,  will  have  a  tendency  to  give  them  a  wider 
influence  and  a  still  more  thorough  control.  And  it  is 
self-evident  that  public  sympathy  and  public  opinion 
must  always  be  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  of 
whatever  will  advance  the  dignity  and  happiness  of  the 
human  race  ;  that  is,  the}'  will  be  in  favor  of  the  mass 
of  men,  and  not  in  favor  of  exceptions. 

It  is  probable  that  we  shall  remain  here  two  or  three 
days,  by  winch  time  I  expect  to  be  able  to  get  through 


118  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

with  1x13-  necessaiy  business  here,  and  then  return  to . 
Lyons,    where   I    shall   cherish   some    expectations   of 
seeing  you  in  the  course  of  the  fall.  • 

Please  give  my  best  love  to  mother  and  Caroline  and 
other  friends. 

With  great  respect  and  affection, 

Yours, 

Myron  Holley. 
Luther  Holley,  Esq. 

On  reading  this  allusion  to  Lafayette,  one  can- 
not help  thinking  of  what  w7as  just  then  going  on 
in  the  royal  household  of  Louis  XVIII.  That 
arbitrary  monarch,  restored  to  his  throne  by  the 
allied  despots  of  Europe,  had  been  endeavoring 
for  ten  years  to  pacify  his  subjects  by  swearing 
to  a  charter  which  promised  to  secure  their 
rights,  but  did  not,  and  was  now  on  his  death- 
bed. The  Jesuits  had  gained  complete  control 
over  him  for  the  last  four  years  by  means  of  the 
beautiful  Madame  du  Cay  la,  such  a  tool  as  they 
always  knew  how  to  use.  But  the  dying  king, 
wTho  really  had  no  faith  in  the  church,  had  honestly 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  die  outside  of 
its  pale,  and  without  touching  its  sacraments. 
He  doubtless  remembered,  with  natural  disgust, 
how,  when  in  1815,  he  had  hardly  stepped  one 
foot  on  his  throne,  it  came  near  being  upset  by 
the  priests  outraging  public    feeling  by   refusing 


EMBARRASSMENT.  119 

to  receive  into  the  church  of  St.  Roch,  or  say 
prayers  over  the  body  of  Mademoiselle  Rancourt, 

a  popular  actress.  He  had  to  quiet  the  tumult 
by  sending  his  own  priest  to  read  the  service. 
He  also  remembered  the  religious  murders  at 
Nismes,  and  like  a  sensible  man,  king  though  he 
was,  he  thought  he  would  die  without  adding  his 
kingly  sanction  to  such  priestly  nonsense.  The 
ultramontane s  and  Jesuits  stood  aghast  at  his 
resolution.  Cardinals  and  prelates  did  their  best 
to  shake  it,  but  in  vain.  Nothing  could  overcome 
it  till  they  called  Madame  Du  Cayla  from  her 
religious  retirement  at  St.  Ouen's,  who  by  her 
beauty  and  tears  prevailed  on  him  to  take  the 
final  sacraments.  Xo  doubt  the  corrupt  power 
that  ruined  the  Bourbons,  vilified  Lafayette  all 
it  could.  It  vilifies  everything  good  within  its 
pale  as  well  as  without.  Both  Lafayette  and 
Thomas  Paine,  with  the  profoundest  reverence 
for  human  liberty,  did  all  they  could  to  prevent 
the  cause  they  reverenced  from  being  stained  by 
the  murder  of  either  priest  or  king.  They  were, 
both,  the  best  and  wisest  friends  kings  ever  had. 


120  MYRON    HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AT    HOME    WITH    HIS    FAMILY. 

Mr.  Holley  having  retired  with  dignity  and 
a  good  conscience  from  the  office  of  Canal  Com- 
missioner, in  the  spring  of  1824,  spent  much  of 
the  next  summer  in  conference  with  his  successors 
in  the  great  work,  and  with  the  legislative  com- 
mittee of  investigation  whose  report,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  far  more  favorable  to  him  than  the 
legislative  action  resulting  from  it.  In  the  mean 
time  let  us  look  at  him  in  the  bosom  of  his  family 
in  Lyons.  His  oldest  daughter  Caroline  had  just 
been  married  to  Graham  H.  Chapin,  a  lawyer,  and 
afterwards  a  member  of  Congress,  and  Clarissa 
and  Elizabeth  were  at  a  boarding-school  in 
Geneva.  In  a  letter  to  the  former  he  gives  a 
picture  of  the  family  and  of  himself,  which  can- 
not be  reduced  to  a  smaller  compass  without  in- 
jury to  the  coloring. 

Lyons,  5th  December,  1824. 
My  Dear  Clarissa,  — Behold  me,  with  3-our  mind's 
eye,  seated  in  the  upper  kitchen,  by  the  side  of  a  good 


AT   HOME    WITH   THE    FAMILY.  121 

hickory  fire,  one  side  of  which  is  occupied  by  your 
mother  singing  Cornelia  to  sleep,  just  beginning  to 
carry  into  effect  the  gratifying  purpose  of  conversing 
a  little  with  }'ou.  And  as  I  know  all  our  household  are 
dear  to  you,  I  will  complete  the  description  of  our 
present  domestic  condition,  b}T  telling  }tou  that  Sam 
and  Sally,  and  Myron  and  Ciryler  are  engaged  in  very 
good  natured  but  noisy  intercommunication  with  Viny 
in  the  lower  kitchen.  Your  aunt  Betsey  and  Caroline 
have  gone  to  take  leave  of  Mrs.  Church,  who  starts 
with  her  family  this  evening  in  a  boat,  to  take  up  their 
residence  in  Syracuse.  Eobert  and  William  have 
walked  down  to  the  store  to  spend  their  evening,  and 
Mr.  Chapin  is  over  at  his  new  house  watching  the  fires, 
which  have  been  kept  up  there  in  all  the  fire  places 
since  yesterday  morning,  for  the  purpose  of  diying  the 
recentl}^  plastered  walls  and  ceilings.  After  consider- 
able delays  Mr.  Chapin's  house  is  now  completed,  with 
the  exception  of  the  inside  painting,  and  that  will  be 
a  job  of  no  great  length,  so  that  Caroline  expects  to 
commence  house-keeping  in  about  one  week  from  this 
time.  Yesterday  the  process  of  cleaning  the  joiner's 
work  for  the  reception  of  the  paint  was  commenced, 
and  to-morrow  it  is  to  be  renewed  with  energy.  It  is 
impossible  to  tell  yet,  whether  the  chimneys  will  draw 
smoke  well,  or  net,  and  from  all  the  opportunities  of 
judging  thus  far  furnished,  there  is  some  diversity  of 
opinion  upon  that  very  interesting  subject.  The  house 
will  be  found,  we  all  think,  very  convenient,  and  suffi- 
ciently roomy,  being  built  nearly  upon  the  plan  of  our 
house  in  Canandaigua,  though  a  little  larger.  But, 
while  we  have  lately  all  been  anxious,  in  our  different 
modes,  to  do  even'thing  in  our  power  to  aid  Caroline 


122  *      MYRON    HOLLEY. 

to  start  fair  in  her  new  character  of  mistress  of  an  in- 
dependent establishment,  we  have  not  neglected  to 
cherish,  in  our  hearts,  the  liveliest  affection  for  3*011  and 
Elizabeth,  who  are  equall}-  dear  to  us  with  }rour  elder 
sister.  And  as  the  cold  weather  seems  now  to  have 
set  in,  in  sober  earnest,  we  anticipate  great  happiness, 
in  your  good  company  at  the  approaching  Christmas. 
Perhaps  we  mav  some  of  us  see  3*011  before  that  time, 
but  whether  we  do  or  not,  we  shall  not  forget  the 
promised  boon  of  a  visit  then  from  3*ourselves,  and 
several  of  vour  interesting  friends. 

I  have  just  concluded  the  reading  aloud  to  3~our 
mother  and  aunt  of  the  novel  of  the  Abbot,  which  3Tou 
know  derives  its  chief  interest  from  the  exhibition  which 
it  gives  of  the  character,  embarrassments  and  friends 
and  enemies  of  the  celebrated  Maiy,  queen  of  Scotland. 
The  impression  left  upon  our  minds  b3r  the  beaut3*, 
accomplishments,  virtues,  vices,  distresses  and  suffer- 
ings of  that  unhapp3T  WVv,  is  quite  gloomy,  though  a 
candid  view  of  her  conduct  and  its  results  is  decidedly 
favorable  to  virtue.  Her  character  attracts  all  the 
complacent  interest  which  can  possibly  belong  to  the 
most  amiable  dispositions,  elegant  figure,  charming 
countenance  and  gracious  behaviour,  united  in  a  female 
well  educated,  and  moving  in  a  sphere  so  conspicuous 
as  to  impart  an  important  influence  through  eveiy  heart 
in  several  of  the  leading  nations  of  Christendom,  until 
after  her  unfortunate  marriage  with  the  foolish,  licenti- 
ous, and  ridiculous  dandy,  Lord  Darnhy.  Her  very 
reasonable  disgust  with  him  seems  first  to  have  opened 
her  mind  to  intrusions  of  the  vile,  and  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  in  reference  to  him  and  the  contemptible 
musician  Rizzio  and  the  profligate  Bothness,  she  de- 


AT    HOME    WITH    THE    FAMILY,  123 

graded  herself  to  the  commission  of  crimes  of  the 
grossest  dye.  But  if  she  greatly  sinned,  she  greatly 
suffered,  and  at  last,  after  nineteen  years  of  close  and 
rigorous  captivity,  she  met  the  death  prepared  for  her 
by  her  inhuman  enemies,  with  the  greatest  fortitude, 
and  even  piety,  leaving  upon  the  whole  a  stronger  claim 
to  the  sympathies  of  posterity  than  any  female 
sovereign  of  modern  Europe. 

Your  aunt  and  Caroline  have  now  returned,  and  their 
conversation  with  vour  mother  has  become  so  lively,  as 
to  break  off  this  I0112;  letter  in  midway,  which  I  am 
afraid  you  will  find  so  dull  as  to  leave  it  uncertain 
whether  I  ought  to  apologize  for  continuing  it  so  long, 
or  for  breaking  it  off. 

"With  great  affection  for  you  and  Elizabeth, 

Your  very  obt., 

Myron  Hollet. 
Miss  Clarissa  Hollet. 

Please  give  our  love  to  Mrs.  Plumb  and  her  amiable 
family. 

A  man  never  enjoyed  his  family  more,  or  was 
more  faithful  to  it.  He  also  enjoyed,  in  spite  of 
the  loss  and  calumny  it  had  cost  him,  the  great 
public  blessing  which  his  labors  had  conferred 
upon  mankind,  though  he  was  to  see  the  glory  of 
it  transferred,  for  the  present,  from  himself  to 
others. 


124  MYRON    HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  WEDDING  OF  THE  WATERS. 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  1825  that  the  waters  of 
Erie  met  those  of  the  Hudson,  and  the  great  wed- 
ding festival  was  celebrated  from  the  26th  of 
October  to  the  4th  of  November,  beginning  at 
Buffalo  and  ending  in  a  blaze  of  glory  and  gush 
at  New  York.  A  great  amount  of  the  sublime 
was  mixed  with  plenty  of  the  ridiculous.  But  the 
whole  people  were  really  glad,  and  no  man  was 
gladder  of  that  than  Myron  Holley,  who  honored 
the  great  wedding  cortege  with  his  presence  from 
Lyons  to  New  York.  The  people  of  this  generation 
can  hardly  conceive  the  delight  experienced  by 
those  of  that,  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other, 
when  it  was  telephoned  by  cannon  from  Buffalo  to 
New  York  and  back  in  three  hours,  that  the  great 
lakes  were,  in  a  commercial  sense,  level  with  the 
ocean.  Every  one  saw  how  this  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  thousands  of  fortunes,  and  made  every 
industrious  man  and  woman  richer. 


THE    WEDDING    OF    THE    WATERS.  125 

Whoever  will  dig  into  the  files  of  New  York, 
Boston  or  Philadelphia  papers  of  that  date  will 
find  them,  dry  and  barren  as  they  then  were  on 
most  topics,  perfectly  luxuriant,  blooming  and 
flamboyant  on  the  canal  celebration.  Eloquence, 
and  even  poetry  sprang  up  as  by  magic,  where 
they  were  least  expected.  The  old  jokes  about 
"Clinton's  big  ditch"  gave  place  to  millions  of 
fond  anticipations  of  a  voyage  in  a  splendid  pack- 
et-boat on  the  "raffinsr  canawl." 

The  ceremonies  had  of  course  been  carefully 
arranged  and  formulated  beforehand,  so  as  to  sat- 
isfy  everybody,  especially  those  most  ambitious  to 
send  their  names  by  water  to  posterity.  In  Buf- 
falo, then  a  scattering  and  inconsiderable  village, 
more  notable  for  an  enterprising  hotel  keeper  and 
stage  proprietor  than  anything  else,  there  was  a 
vast  concourse  of  people  from  the  surrounding 
country,  who  moved  in  solemn  procession  to  the 
head  of  the  canal,  where  a  canal-boat,  named  the 
"  Sexeca  Chief,"  splendidly  and  appropriately 
decorated,  and  bearing  kegs  of  Lake  Erie  water 
destined  to  be  poured  into  the  ocean  by  Dr.  Sam- 
uel L.  Mitchell,  below  the  narrows  of  Xew  York 
harbor,  received  on  board  Gov.  Clinton,  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, and  New  York  and  other  dele- 


126  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

gations.  This  boat  was  drawn  by  four  horses,  and 
was  followed  by  three  others,  gaily  dressed,  and 
bearing  distinguished  citizens.  Jesse  Hawley, 
now  a  citizen  of  Rochester,  instead  of  the  jail 
limits  of  Geneva,  addressed  the  crowd  in  behalf 
of  the  visitors,  and  was  replied  to  by  Judge  For- 
ward of  Buffalo.  Then  started  the  horse-drawn 
boats  on  their  slow  way,  greeting  on  the  banks  of 
the  canal,  as  they  passed  the  sparse  clearings, 
nearly  the  whole  population  of  many  square  miles 
of  territory  on  each  side.  In  every  smart  village 
or  incipient  city  the  aquatic  pageant  was  received 
with  shouts,  music  and  cannon ;  speeches  of  wel- 
come and  speeches  of  reply  ;  dinners  and  balls.  The 
progress  was  not  rapid.  That  was  not  the  fast 
age.  It  was  Wednesday  when  the  "  Seneca  Chief" 
started  from  Buffalo.  It  was  noon  the  next  "  Sab- 
bath day  "  when  it  arrived  in  Utica.  The  Gov- 
ernor and  party  attended  church  there  in  the 
afternoon,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  legal 
measures  were  taken  in  regard  to  the  fracture  of 
the  Jewish  law,  —  perhaps  it  is  less  liable  to  frac- 
ture on  water  than  on  land. 

Monday  morning  the  processions,  cannon  firing, 
music,  and  speech-making  began  again,  and  grew 
more  and  more  intense  as  the  pageant  passed  Little 


THE    WEDDING    OF    THE    WATERS.  127 

Falls,  Amsterdam,  Schenectady,  till,  at  half  past 
10  o'clock  on  Thursday,  Nov.  3,  the  r  Seneca 
Chief"  unhitched  its  team  of  horses  and  floated 
into  the  Albany  basin,  through  which  it  was  towed 
by  yawls  manned  by  twenty-four  masters  of  sail- 
ing vessels,  between  lines  of  canal  boats  vocal  with 
huzzas  and  hallelujahs. 

As  soon  as  the  Governor's  party  landed,  it  was 
escorted  to  the  state  capitol,  where  Philip  Hone 
tendered  the  congratulations  of  the  Xew  York 
Corporation,  and  William  Jones,  of  Albany,  those 
of  the  capital  city.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons sat  down  to  a  feast  under  a  double  arcade  upon 
the  capitol  lawn,  presided  over  by  John  Tayler 
and  Ambrose  Spencer,  assisted  by  Martin  Van 
Buren  and  seven  other  vice-presidents.  One  of 
the  regular  toasts  was  worthy  of  a  proud  state  : 

"  A  generous  competition  among  all  the  states  of  the 
Union  in  promoting  our  common  prosperity.  New 
York  has  led  out  with  steamboats  and  canals." 

Gov.  Clinton's  volunteer  was  still  worthier  of 
memory  : 

"  The  love  of  country  —  may  it  ever  rise  superior  to 
the  spirit  of  party  and  personal  consideration." 

Steam  lost  no  time  in  towing  to  Xew  York  not 


128  MYEON    HOLLEY. 

only  the  "  Seneca  Chief,"  but  a  whole  fleet  of  canal 
boats,  for  the  next  day  was  to  be  the  great  one 
there  —  a  demonstration  of  all  the  trades  and  arts, 
on  land  and  water,  to  be  followed  in  the  evening 
by  the  largest  and  most  magnificent  ball  ever 
danced  on  this  or  any  other  continent. 

Charles  Kins;,  editor  of  the  "  New  York  Ameri- 
can,''  must  sum  up  the  story  of  that  day,  the 
details  of  which  would  fill  a  larger  volume  than 
this.     I  quote  his  editorial  of  the  5th. 

The  celebration  of  yesterdaj^  was  eveiything  that 
heart  could  desire.  It  was  the  appropriate  expression 
b}'  a  great  and  free  people  of  their  joy  at  the  completion 
of  a  work  alike  useful  and  magnificent,  achieved  by 
their  own  unaided  means,  industry,  and  self-denial,  and 
of  which  the  influence,  moral  and  political,  will  extend 
to  the  remotest  times,  and  to  the  most  distant  quarters 
of  our  Union. 

The  heavens,  too,  smiled  on  the  happiness  of  man. 
A  more  beautiful  day  never  dawned.  It  was  the  A'eiy 
atmosphere  which  a  painter  would  have  chosen  to  give 
effect  to  the  brilliant,  the  unrivalled  water  scene.  A 
warm  light  mist  hovered  over  the  bay,  and  served  to 
magnify  without  obscuring  the  numberless  and  various 
vessels  that  floated  on  its  tranquil  bosom.  It  was  to 
the  reality  what  poetiy  is  to  truth,  a  beautiful  amplifi- 
cation. When  the  gaily  decorated  steam  and  canal 
boats,  with  their  countless  passengers,  were  drawn  up 
off  the  batter}',  at  about  half-past  nine  o'clock,  in  prc- 
paratior  for  their  departure  towards  the  ocean,  a  spec- 


THE    WEDDING   OF    THE    WATERS.  129 

tacle  was  presented  which  not  only  has  never  been 
equalled,  but  which  do  other  place  in  the  world  has  the 
means  of  equalling.  Twenty-one  steam-boats,  besides 
canal  and  pilot  boats,  barges,  and  a  ship,  ad  dressed 
out  with  flags,  and  alive  with  happy  human  beings, 
brought  within  the  distinct  view  of  tens  of  thousands 
of  delighted  spectators,  and  surrounded  with  a  sceneiw 
of  which  the  beaut}'  is  nowhere  to  be  surpassed.  It 
was  a  glorious  sight,  and  on  a  most  glorious  occasion. 

To  those  who  were  not  present  yesterda}'  in  the  city, 
it  is  quite  impossible  to  convey  anything  like  an  idea 
of  the  scene.  It  was  altogether  the  most  impressive  we 
have  ever  witnessed  ;  and  the  conduct  particularly  of 
both  actors  and  spectators,  was  orderly  and  decorous, 
not  only  beyond  all  former  example,  but  beyond,  we 
are  bold  to  say,  anything  that  was  ever  seen  an}'where 
amidst  such  an  immense  mass  of  people.  There  were, 
independently  of  about  five  thousand  persons  who 
walked  in  the  procession,  probably  over  one  hundred 
thousand  lookers-on,  of  every  age  and  description,  and 
degree,  from  puling  infancy  to  spectacled  old  age,  coun- 
trymen  and  citizens,  gentle  and  simple  ;  and  among 
them  all, —  and  at  some  time  in  the  day  they  almost  all 
fell  under  our  observation. — we  saw  not  a  single  instance 
of  drunkenness,  no  quarrel,  no  riot,  no  confusion.  "We 
make  this  remark  with  even  greater  pride  than  that 
with  which  we  record  the  celebration  itself,  or  the  great 
cause  of  it,  for  it  speaks  most  emphatically  in  praise  of 
the  moral  character  and  conscious  dignity  of  a  free 
people. 


130  MYRON   HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    JUSTICE. 

Yet  the  man  whose  wisdom,  energy,  and  self- 
sacrifice  had  achieved  this  glory,  more  than  any 
other  one  man's,  whose  integrity  had  been  certi- 
fied by  the  most  rigid  examination,  who  had  con- 
veyed his  whole  property  to  the  state  to  save 
harmless  his  bondsmen,  after  all  this  rejoicing, 
did  not  find  enough  of  love-thy-neighbor-as-thyself 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  to  restore  to  him  his 
small  property  till  March,  1828.  Till  then,  with 
a  stout  heart  and  a  placid  temper,  he  most  cour- 
teously pleaded  with  the  legislature  for  justice, 
year  after  year,  backed  by  such  friends  *  as  dared 

*  That  DeWitt  Clinton  was  one  of  those  friends,  the  fol- 
lowing grateful  letter  testifies  : 

Albany,  21st  April,  1825. 

Governor  Clinton,  —  I  beg  leave  to  tender  to  you,  and  to 
Mrs.  Clinton,  my  most  grateful  thanks  for  the  repeated  and 
effective  expressions  of  your  favorable  opinions  of  my  claim, 
presented  to  the  legislature  during  the  present  session.  The 
bill,  which  has  passed  the  Senate  and  Assembly,  will,  I  trust, 
lead  to  the  entire  discharge  of  my  bail,  and  leave  me  in  pos- 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   JUSTICE.  131 

to  stand  by  him,  without  heeding  the  "hoarse  cries  of 
"  defaulter,"  f"  defaulter,"'  coming  from  the  dens  of 
political  knavery,  and  from  religious  bigotry  too, 
no  doubt ;  for,  though  Mr.  Holley  was  born  re- 
ligious, and  grew  more  and  more  religious  till  he 
died,  whatever  bigotry  he  may  ever  have  had 
had  been  all  washed  out  by  his  canal  experi- 
ence. But  the  struggle  with  prejudice  was  long 
and  dubious,  as  letters  to  one  of  his  daughters  in 
1827  will  show:— 

Albany,  24th  March,  1827. 

Dear  Clarissa,  — I  was  very  happy  to  receive  your 
good  letter  yesterday,  with  the  postscript  of  Elizabeth, 
and  I  thank  God  that  you  are  able  to  write  so  good  a 
letter,  and  that  you  are  all  so  well.  1  have  help  and 
hopes  here,  but  must  not  be  too  sanguine.  The  com- 
mittee of  the  Senate,  to  whom  my  memorial  was  re- 
session  of  a  shelter  for  my  family.  It  may,  and  I  think  it 
ought,  to  do  more.  But  whatever  may  be  the  determination 
of  the  commissioners,  it  can  never  impair  the  just  admiration 
with  which  I  regard  the  conduct  of  yourself  and  your  lady  in 
my  behalf.  To  remit  provocation  bespeaks  an  elevated  and 
honorable  mind ;  to  cure  the  disposition,  from  which  it  may 
be  supposed  to  proceed,  by  active  beneficence,  is  a  sure  index 
of  that  enlarged  and  precious  charity,  which  is  better  even 
than  faith  and  hope.  That  the  perfect  reward  of  these,  and 
of  every  other  christian  virtue,  may  belong  to  you  and  Mrs. 
Clinton,  both  in  this  life  and  forever,  is  the  earnest  prayer 
of,  Sir, 

With  the  highest  respect  and  most  grateful  affection, 

Your  very  ob't., 

Myron  Holley. 


132  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

ferred,  have  reported  favorably,  and  the  bill  for 
reconvej'ing  1113'  lands  to  me,  which  the}'  introduced,  is 
made  the  order  of  the  da}'  for  Wednesday  next,  when 
I  hope  it  will  pass.  I  have  a  package  for  Mr.  Chapin, 
which  Mr.  Forbes,  of  3'our  neighborhood,  told  me  he 
would  soon  call  for.  This  contains  my  memorial  and  the 
report  of  the  committee. 

I  hope,  1113'  dear,  that  neither  3-011  nor  an3'  of  the  rest 
of  the  family,  go  to  the  night  meetings,  as  I  look  upon 
the  awakenings  which  take  place  there  as,  on  the  whole, 
not  promotive  of  religion  or  virtue.  In  the  3'oung  and 
innocent  the3'  are  the  result  of  high  and  unsafe  excite- 
ment, and  in  those  of  mature  3rears,  the3T  are  sometimes 
hypocritical,  and  sometimes  the  evidence  of  remorse  for 
misconduct,  which  produces  no  permanent  good.  There 
is  no  evidence  of  real  religion  like  that  which  is  afforded 
03'  a  sedulous  devotion  to  useful  actions,  and  a  constant 
cultivation  of  amiable  affections ;  and  the  best  and 
safest  place  for  the  displa3r  of  the  actions  and  affections 
for  1113'  family,  in  1113'  present  situation,  is  at  home. 

Do  not  show  this,  nor  let  its  contents  get  out  of  the 
family,  because  it  would  wound  the  feelings  of  some  of 
my  friends  unnecessarily,  and  would  be  misunderstood  ; 
but  do  not  go  to  airy  of  the  night  meetings. 

Give  my  love  to  all.     Kiss  Bolivar. 


Yours,  in  haste, 


M.    HOLLEY. 


Lyons,  1st.  Sep.,  1827. 

My  Deau  Clarissa.  — You  will  be  very  welcome  home 
as  soon  as  it  may  be  safe  and  convenient  for  }tou  to 
return. 

I  have  not  at  present  the  mone3r  to  pa3'  3'our  expen- 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    JUSTICE.  133 

ses  ;  but  if  Robert  cannot  let  }*ou  have  it.  write  me 
soon  after  the  receipt  of  this,  and  I  will  raise  it  for  you. 
It  is  not  proper  that  you  should  incur  much  obligation 
to  your  aunt  or  uncle,  and  I  have  for  some  time  felt 
considerable  solicitude  lest  you  should  incur  more  than 
you  ought.  Believe  me  in  this,  as  I  speak  out  of  noth- 
ing but  love  to  you,  and  have  had  larger  opportunities 
of  knowing  human  nature  and  character  than  you  have. 
The  reverse  of  circumstances  which  I  have  experienced 
has  been  the  means  of  testing  the  sincerity  and  strength 
of  that  sympathy,  which  many  persons  professed  for 
me,  and  perhaps  not  unfortunately,  for  we  are  often 
much  benefitted  by  knowing  the  truth  of  professions. 
A  large  proportion,  some  even  of  my  blood  relations, 
have  not  borne  the  test  so  well  as  I  could  have  wished. 
But  I  cannot  consent  for  a  moment  to  suppose,  that  my 
own  children  are  any  of  them  in  the  smallest  degree 
alienated  by  my  reverse.  It  would  give  me  inexpres- 
sible pain  if  my  dear  Clarissa  should  give  me  any  reason 
to  think  her  affections  could  be  at  all  influenced  by  it. 
I  believe  few  parents  have  taken  more  delight  in  pro- 
viding for  the  happiness  of  their  children  than  I  have. 
And  there  is  nothing,  even  in  my  anticipations  of 
heaven,  which  gives  me  more  intense  enjoyment  than 
the  hopes  which  I  cherish  of  their  useful,  respectable 
and  happy  progress  in  life.  I  know  not  by  what  com- 
pany }'ou  are  surrounded,  but  I  have  much,  that  is,  all 
reasonable  confidence  in  your  discretion,  and  I  count 
too  on  Robert's  judgment  in  that  concern,  and  fully  on 
his  affection  towards  vou.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that 
your  uncle  and  aunt  would  prevent  you  from  all  harm, 
which  thev  might  think  menaced  vou.  from  that  source. 
Still  I  have  some  fears  that  at  your  susceptible  age,  and 


134  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

possibly  with  your  mortified  prospects  and  diminished 
hopes,  you  may  suffer  yourself  to  contract  ties  which 
ma}'  not  be  most  happy.  Clarissa,  be  not  mortified,  be 
not  at  all  disposed  to  abate  one  jot  of  hope  or  of  expec- 
tation fur  yourself  or  your  connections  by  my  reverse  ; 
for  I  do  think  it  will  not  long  oppress  me  or  hinder  me 
from  doing  all  that  parental  affection  and  propriety  may 
suggest  for  the  education  of  all  my  children,  and  for 
their  advancement  in  the  world.  Your  mother  and  I 
were,  a  short  time  ago,  at  Canandaigua,  where  we  were 
treated  with  great  and  very  friendly  attentions  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Greig,  who,  among  other  instances  of  regard, 
offered  to  send  you  to  school  at  Troy  for  a  year  at  their 
expense,  with  many  expressions  of  kindness  toward  you 
as  well  as  us.  Mrs.  Pawling,  I  believe,  had  written  to 
them  on  the  subject,  and  the}'  wished  to  have  you  home 
and  ready  to  set  out  for  the  school  with  Miss  Lavinia 
Porter,  who  is  to  go  there  very  soon.  Your  mother  and 
I  declined  the  offer  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greig,  not  without 
the  most  grateful  thanks  for  the  generous  sympathy  witli 
which  it  was  made,  and  not  without  much  reluctance, 
for  we  very  much  wish  that  you  should  enjoy  the  advan- 
tages of  more  school  teaching.  Our  reasons  for  declin- 
ing  are,  that  it  would  take  some  time  to  prepare  you 
for  going  there  ;  you  are  absent  from  home,  where  we 
hope  you  are  happy  and  useful.  Within  six  months 
we  hope  to  have  my  claims  upon  the  state  allowed, 
which  will  enable  me  to  send  you  and  Elizabeth  to  a 
boarding  school  together  ;  and  your  age  will  not  be  such 
as  to  make  you  six  months  hence  an  unfit  inmate  of  a 
boarding  school ;  and  we  do  not  like  altogether  Mrs. 
Willard ;  and  if  my  property  is  restored,  it  would  be 
sordid  and  unbecoming  for  me  to  lay  under  such  deep 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   JUSTICE.  135 

obligations  for  the  education  of  my  children  or  any  one 
of  them  to  another.  I  intend,  and  want  you  should 
remember  it,  if  my  prosperity  is  restored,  as  I  think  it 
will  be  next  winter,  to  send  you  and  Elizabeth  abroad 
to  school  for  one  year,  perhaps  at  New  Haven. 

I  have  not  refrained  from  writing  to  you  from  any 
diminution  of  affection,  or  because  you  were  not  every 
da}'  in  my  thoughts,  but  for  reasons  altogether  different- 
and  which,  I  think,  vou  may  easily  imagine. 

We  have  heard  but  few  particulars  of  the  most  melan- 
choly fate  of  your  uncle  Horace,  whose  death  I  cannot 
help  deploring  as  a  public  calamity,  and  who  was  one 
of  the  truest  and  dearest  of  my  earthly  friends. 

"We  have  heard  by  letter  from  Alexander  to  John 
that  the  ship  in  which  he  died  was  the  Louisiana.  That 
he  and  Mary  were  both  sick  together,  he  being  in  a 
cabin  below,  and  she  being  in  one  above  him  on  deck ; 
that  the}'  could  not  help  each  other,  and  had  little  or  no 
assistance  either  from  nurse  or  physician.  We  are  all 
anxious  to  hear  more.     Give  my  love  to  Robert. 

Most  affectionately  yours, 

Myron  Holley. 

These  letters  reveal  a  spirit  of  stern  integrity, 
independence  and  self-help,  along  with  an  absence 
of  cunning,  or  what  is  sometimes  called  shrewd- 
ness,  which  accounts  for  the  suffering  which  grew 
out  of  a  deficiency  comparatively  so  trifling,  and 
the  long  delay  in  obtaining  a  partial  reparation 
so  obviously  just.  Had  Mr.  Holley  possessed  the 
cunning  of  the  ordinary  politician,  he  would  not 


13  G  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

have  told  the  legislature  of  that  deficiency  of  $30,- 
000,  and  would  have  kept  square  with  the  comp- 
troller bv  means  of  his  friends  —  "  making  friends" 

as  the  scripture  says,  "  of  the  mammon  of  un- 
righteousness "  if  necessary.  If  he  had  had  the 
shrewdness  of  an  ordinary  detective,  he  would 
probably  have  found  out  who  robbed  him  and  have 
laid  the  odium  on  the  shoulders  that  deserved  to 
bear  it.  But  he  was  too  grandly  proud  to  make 
the  most  of  his  friends,  and  never  stooped  to  court 
friendship  either  by  flattery  or  promises  of  favor. 
Genial  as  the  sunshine,  he  spoke  evil  of  none,  v 
whatever  he  might  think.  Almost  any  conceivable 
man  in  his  position,  and  doing  what  he  did,  would 
have  taken  care  that  the  person  who  wrote  under 
the  pseudonym  of  "  Peter  Ploughshare  "  should 
be  consigned  to  the  eternal  infamy  due  to  hypo- 
crites. Mr.  Holley  undoubtedly  knew  who  he  was, 
but  he  let  him  pass  quietly  into  oblivion,  where  it 
is  difficult  to  find  him  to-day.  Stat  nominis  umbra 
only.  We  know  that  it  was  no  farmer  who  thus 
disgraced  the  most  honorable  of  tools  and  occupa- 
tions. 

But  justice  and  dignity  finally  prevail,  and  their 
success  is  worth  far  more  than  any  which  ever 
crowns  the  work  of  political  cunning.     Mr.  Holley 


THE    STRUGGLE   FOR   JUSTICE.  137 

thus  announces  to  his  wife  the  close  of  his  four  years 
siege  at  Albany. 

Albany,  20th  March,  1S2S. 
My  Dear  Sally.  — My  bill  has  this  day  passed  the 
Senate  by  a  larg  i  majority,  20  for  it  and  four  against  it. 
It  wants  onlv  the  signature  of  the  acting  Governor 
Pitcher  to  become  a  law,  and  he  has  told  a  friend  of 
mine  this  morning  that  he  will  sio;n  it  as  soon  as  it  is 
presented.  The  bill  provides  for  restoring  to  me  all 
the  property  which  I  conveyed  to  the  state,  and  thus 
affords  the  authority  of  the  legislature  in  favor  of  the 
great  truth,  that  while  I  was  Canal  Commissioner  I 
used  no  money  but  what  I  had  a  right  to  use.  The  bill 
has  passed  both  houses  as  a  majority  bill,  not  as  a  two- 
thirds  bill ;  that  is,  it  is  regarded  not  as  a  charity  or 
gift,  but  an  act  of  justice,  requiring  the  legislature  to 
pass  it  as  a  duty  of  moral  and  legal  obligation.  I 
announce  this  good  news  to  you  first,  because  there  is 
none  to  whom  the  annunciation  will  give  more  pleasure, 
and,  my  dear  Sally,  I  do  hope  and  trust  that  we  and  our 
lovel}'  family  of  children,  who  have  been  somewhat  in 
the  shade  of  adversity,  may  now  be  able  to  enjoy  and 
improve  our  lives  in  the  healthy  sunshine  of  prosperity. 

Most  affectionatelv  yours, 

Myron  Holley. 

I  shall  start  for  home  in  two  or  three  da}~s,  if  by  that 
time  I  can  get  the  proper  conveyances  of  nry  property 

executed. 

This  modicum  of  justice  must  have  rejoiced  many 
hearts  outside  of  Mr.  Holley's  family  circle,  and 
especially   his    neighbors    and    acquaintances    in 


138  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

Lyons  and  Canandaigua.  Mr.  John  Greig,  one 
of  the  earliest  and  most  distinguished  citizens  of 
that  place,  writing  to  Col.  Troup  on  the  21st  of 
May,  1828,  says:  "To  Mr.  Holley,  more  than 
any  one  else,  are  we  indebted  for  that  meeting  [in 
Canandaigua,  Jan.  8,  1817],  and  the  popularity 
which  the  canal  policy  immediately  afterwards 
acquired  in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  Indeed, 
I  have  always  been  satisfied  that  his  intelligence  and 
zeal  and  unwearied  exertions  both  of  mind  and  body 
on  the  subject,  from  the  moment  of  his  appoint- 
ment as  Canal  Commissioner,  essentially  con- 
tributed to  bring  the  Erie  Canal  to  a  successful 
completion." 

The  bill,  whose  passage  caused  Mr.  Holley,  his 
family  and  particular  friends  so  much  joy,  was 
unanimously  reported  in  the  Assembly  pretty 
early  in  the  session  of  1828,  but  action  on  it  was 
considerably  delayed  by  the 

DEATH    OF    GOV.    CLINTON 

on  the  11  th  of  February.  As  Mr.  Holley  was 
on  terms  of  respectful  intimacy  with  that  great 
man,  during  the  greatest  work  of  his  life,  and 
well  knew  his  character  and  his  aspirations,  the 
notice  he  takes  of  him  in  his  correspondence  with 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   JUSTICE.  139 

his  daughters  is  of  peculiar  interest.     In  his  letter 
to  Clarissa,  afterwards  Mrs.  Dr.  Beaumont,  writ- 
ten the  next  day,  he  says,  "Perhaps,  before  this 
reaches  you,  you  will  have  heard  the  news  of  the 
death  of  Gov.  Clinton.     He  died  at  7  o'clock  last 
evening,  suddenly  of,  as  is  supposed,  a  disorgan- 
ized condition  of  the  heart.     He  was  sitting  in 
his  study  with  two  of  his  sons,  to  whom  he  re- 
marked, putting  his  hand  to  his  breast,  that  he 
felt  a  stricture  there.     His  eldest  son  said,  'Per 
haps  you  had  better  walk  a   little,'  being   at  the 
same  time  preparing  a  paper  to  hand  to  his  father, 
who  had  not  yet  got  up,  when  the  son  perceived 
that  his  father's  head  dropped  a  little  forward, 
and  coming  to  him  found  him  incapable  of  speech 
or  motion.       A  physician  was    called  in  in   ten 
minutes,   and  much  pains  were  taken  to  restore 
him,  without  success.      The  Governor  had  been 
well  enough  to  write  letters  during  the  afternoon, 
though  his  health  has  not  been  good  for  some  time 
past.     This  morning  at  the  meeting  of  the  Assem- 
bly,   the     Governor's     death   was     solemnly   an- 
nounced," —  and  the  letter  proceeds  to  detail  the 
action  taken  to  honor  his  memory.      Writing  the 
next    day   to    his    younger    daughter    Elizabeth, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Kingman,  Mr.  Holley  says  :  "  His 


140  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

funeral  will  take  place  tomorrow  at  2  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  and  the  legislature  and  citizens 
are  taking  measures  to  have  it  conducted  with  all 
possible  honor  to  the  deceased.  Mrs.  Clinton 
was  abroad  at  Judge  Ducr's,  when  the  death  of 
her  husband  occurred.  A  messenger  came  to 
Judge  Duer's  with  the  news  and  communicated 
it  to  the  Judge,  who  immediately  informed  Mrs. 
Clinton  that  the  Governor  was  "taken  ill,  and 
wished  her  to  come  home.  She  immediately  ex- 
claimed that  he  was  dead,  and  started  for  home, 
having  fainted  before  she  reached  there.  When 
she  reached  home  she  became  frantic  with  hy- 
sterical affection,  and  though  much  pains  were 
taken  for  her  relief,  they  were"  ineffectual  till  last 
evening,  when  she  fell  asleep,  and  is  now  probably 
better.  Yesterday  she  remained  all  day  uncon- 
scious of  her  situation,  dressed  for  company, 
went  to  the  corpse  of  her  husband,  told  him  to 
get  up  and  comb  his  hair,  and  warm  himself,  for 
he  was  cold.  Her  condition  is  one  of  great  dis- 
tress and  excites  universal  sympathy.  During 
the  last  season,  though  it  is  not  known  to  the 
public,  he  had  a  paralytic  shock,  which  it  was 
very  much  feared,  for  an  hour,  would  terminate 
his  life,  and  then  she  was  affected  in  some  degree, 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    JUSTICE.  141 

as  she  has  been  by  his  actual  departure.  It  is 
certain  that  not  only  her  private  and  personal 
affections  have  been  most  violently  wrought  upon 
by  this  sudden  separation  from  her  husband,  but 
that  the  prospects  she  must  have  cherished  most 
dearly  are  blasted  by  it.  The  distinguished  char- 
acter and  station  of  her  husband  ever  since  their 
marriage  must  have  kept  her  almost  constantly 
engaged  in  the  elegant  and  splendid  courtesies  of 
the  most  distinguished  social  circles,  she  herself 
being  for  the  most  part  the  graceful,  dignified  and 
accomplished  mistress  of  those  courtesies.  And 
no  doubt  her  ambition  was  excited  and  directed 
to  the  anticipation  of  all  the  pleasures  and  gratifi- 
cations of  the  still  larger  and  more  brilliant  circles 
supplied  at  the  capital  of  the  United  States,  where 
she  might  have  hoped  to  see  her  husband  occupy- 
ing the  highest  station  of  honor  which  can  be 
conferred  by  earthly  agency.  It  is  not  therefore 
surprising  that  her  affliction  is  overwhelming. 
Mrs.  Clinton  is  a  woman  of  amiable  dispositions 
and  good  principles,  and  will  probably  recover  her 
senses  and  her  composure,  and  lead  a  useful  life 
for  years  to  come.  But  how  different  must  it  be 
from  that  which  her  probable  hopes  and  expecta- 
tions had  depicted  for  her  ?  " 


142  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

It  is  quite  true  that  at  the  very  time  when 
Myron  Hoi  ley  threw  himself  into  the  great  labor 
of  constructing  a  canal  through  three  hundred 
miles  of  forests  and  swamps  to  open  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  and  the  upper  lakes  to  the  ocean, 
George  Stephenson,  a  younger  man  by  two  years 
and  forty  days,  made  real  the  idea  of  an  iron  horse 
on  iron  rails.  And  by  the  time  the  Erie  Canal 
was  completed,  and  the  paeans  were  echoing  from 
Buffalo  to  Xew  York,  he  had  fairly  made  the  rail- 
way system  of  the  world  a  fixed  fact.  The  canal 
is  now  put  out  of  sight  by  it,  as  the  moon  is  by 
the  sun  in  the  daytime.  But  how  soon  would 
railroads  have  pervaded  the  Mississippi  valley,  or 
how  fast  would  they  have  spread  over  Europe,  if 
the  canal  had  not  existed,  pouring  the  food  of  that 
valley  into  the  stomachs  of  the  iron-workers 
wherever  they  worked  ?  The  canal  was  slow  but 
sure.  It  created  the  wealth  and  inspired  the 
enterprise*  which  gave  us  the  railroads.     Though 

*  Work  had  hardly  commenced  on  the  Xew  York  canal  be- 
fore the  State  of  Ohio  began  seriously  t©  consider  how  she 
should  take  advantage  of  its  completion.  Lines  of  canal 
connecting  the  Ohio  river  with  Lake  Erie  were  projected,  and 
surveys  made,  long  before  the  completion  of  the  New  York 
enterprise.  Throughout  that  vast  wilderness  were  then  scat- 
tered stumpy  farms  whose  surplus  produce  would  not  pay  for 
transportation  over  the  execrable  roads  of  mud  and  corduroy. 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   JUSTICE.  143 

"water"  in  the  latter  is  not  so  useful  as  in  the 
canal,  they  have  been  to  the  great  body  of  the 
people  an  incalculable  blessing.  They  are  giv- 
ing us  a  country  freer  in  both  muscle  and  mind, 
and  better  worth  loving. 

The  first  requisite  for  abolishing  poverty  is  the 
easy  interchange  of  the  products  of  labor.  This 
effected,  the  thing  becomes  in  some  degree  possi- 
ble. For  it  opens  a  possibility  of  universal  edu- 
cation. This  tends  to  enlarge  a  middle  class  of 
people,  leaving  the  excessively  rich  and  the  ex- 
cessively poor  in  a  minority  of  no  great  account. 

The  people  turned  out  voluntarily  to  assist  the  surveying 
parties.  The  writer  well  remembers  how  proud  he  felt,  when 
an  ambitious  stripling,  to  "carry  chain"  a  little  while  for 
Mr.  Geddes  along  the  banks  of  the  Cuyahoga.  It  was  previ- 
ous to  1822. 


.144  MYRON    HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


HORTICULTURE . 


It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  Myron 
Holley  had  a  beautiful  garden  in  Cauandaigua. 
He  was  naturally  a  gardener,  which  means  that  he 
was  a  lover  and  improver  of  nature.  At  Lyons 
he  reserved  for  his  own  home  two  acres  which  be- 
came a  wonderful  garden  under  the  slight  oppor- 
tunities which  his  constant  and  weighty  cares  on 
the  canal  allowed  him.  Xo  sooner  was  he  released 
from  his  embarrassments  by  the  tardy  justice  of 
the  legislature,  than  he  returned  to  this  garden 
home  with  delight.  But  he  was  not  content  with 
cultivating  his  garden  and  enjoying  its  flowers  and 
fruits  himself.  His  delight  was  to  induce  others 
to  enjoy  the  same  pleasures.  If  he  made  any  im- 
provement in  flowers  or  fruit,  and  he  made  many, 
he  wished  all  others  to  have  the  benefit  of  it.  A 
letter  to  one  of  his  friends  soon  after  his  return 
from  Albany  in  the  spring  of  1828  illustrates  this 
trait  in  his  character. 


HORTICULTURE.  145 

Lyons,  12th  April,  1828. 

Dear  Sir,  —  This  day  I  have  taken  up  six,  from 
among  the  best  of  my  little  quince  trees,  and  addressed 
them  to  you,  to  the  care  of  Joy,  Bruce  &  Co.,  agents 
for  the  Pilot  Line  of  canal  boats,  at  Albany.  And  I 
hope  they  will  come  to  your  hands  in  good  condition. 
If  the}'  shall  live  and  nourish  in  your  grounds,  as  simi- 
lar trees  have  in  mine,  the}'  will  bear  the  year  after 
next,  from  twelve  to  twenty  quinces  each,  and  in  five 
years,  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty  each.  The  fruit  of  them  will  be  yellow,  tender  and 
fragrant. 

In  commencing  the  cultivation  of  my  garden  and 
other  grounds  this  spring,  I  feel  that  the  establishment 
of  my  just  claims  to  the  absolute  title  of  them,  by  the 
legislature,  has  given  a  new  impulse  to  my  taste  for 
rural  pursuits.  And  there  is  no  employment,  not 
immediately  connected  with  the  successful  introduction 
of  my  children  into  life,  and  the  welfare  of  my  family, 
from  which  I  anticipate,  for  my  declining  years,  so 
many  useful  and  interesting  results.  For  a  long  time 
some  of  the  most  valuable  sources  of  human  enjoyment, 
as  it  respects  myself,  have  been  too  much  dependent 
upon  the  caprice,  prejudice  and  passion  of  others. 
This  dependence  is  now  happily  removed.  And  for  my 
remaining  days,  I  intend  to  adopt  a  course  of  exertion 
in  my  opinion  equally  characterized  by  philosophy  and 
benevolence  ;  in  short,  sir,  I  am  ambitious  of  emulating 
your  example*,  by  retiring  from  the  bustle  and  storm  of 
life  to  the  occupation  of  the  garden  and  the  field,  with 
nothing  like  the  feelings  or  motives  of  an  a-cetic  —  but 
in  perfect  charity  with  all  mankind,  and  because  such 
occupations   afford  the  best  means   of  improving  the 


146  MYRON  HOLLEY. 

mind  and  heart  of  intelligent  men  who  are  truly  devoted 
to  them,  and  at  the  same  time  secure  the  most  desirable 
advantages  of  peace,  useful  emploj'ment  and  true 
dignity. 

AVitli  grateful   respects  for  Mrs.   Buel,   I  am,   with 
much  esteem,  sir, 

Your  very  obt. 

Myron  Hollet. 

Jesse  Buel. 

As  we  shall  see,  by  and  b}r,  there  were  human 
interests  ready  to  appeal  to  his  heart,  which  could 
not  allow  him  to  end  his  days  in  a  garden.  The 
last  thirteen  years  of  his  life  were  to  leave  him 
hardly  more  leisure  for  that  delightful  occupation 
than  the  previous  ones.  That  others  might  have 
better  gardens,  he  had  to  neglect  his  own.  Still 
it  is  to  be  recorded  that  Central  and  \Yestern  New 
York,  so  conspicuous  for  useful  and  elegant 
gardening,  owe  as  much  to  Myron  Holley  as, 
perhaps,  to  any  other  man.  He  was  a  very  grand 
pioneer.  In  all  horticultural  literature,  the  useful 
and  the  sweet  are,  perhaps,  nowhere  better 
mingled  than  in  his  "Initiatory  Discourse,  de- 
livered  at  Geneva,  27th  November,  1828,  before 
an  assembly  from  which,  on  that  day,  was  formed 
the  Domestic  Horticultural  Society  of  the 
western  parts  of  the  State  of  New  York." 


HORTICULTURE .  147 

After  describing,  as  no  one  could  better  than 
he,  the  hardships  and  perils  endured  by  the 
earliest  settlers  in  the  great  valley  which  his  own 
labors  had  done  so  much  to  open  to  the  world,  he 
swept  over  the  history  of  gardens  from  the  mythic 
Eden  downwards,  culling  gems  from  the  poets  as 
he  went,  and  making  his  path  blooming  and 
fragrant.  After  quoting  Homers  grand  compli- 
ment to  the  garden  of  King  Alcinous  in  the  7th 
book  of  the  Odyssey,  he  grandly  wipes  prejudice 
away  from  the  memory  of  the  much-abused  Nebu- 
chadnezzar as  follows  : — 

"  But  the  hanging  gardens  of  Bab}don,  if  the}r  were 
not  more  fruitful  than  that  of  Alcinous,  were  vastly 
more  expensive  and  more  picturesque.  And  what 
makes  them  more  interesting  is  the  spirit  of  courtesy  in 
which  they  were  constructed.  Nebuchadnezzar  made 
them  to  gratify  the  taste  of  his  wife,  who  being  by 
birth  a  Mecle,  and  accustomed  to  the  view  of  moun- 
tainous regions,  did  not  perfectly  enjcy  the  rural 
prospects  of  the  level  country  around  her  husband's 
capital.  These  gardens  were  four  hundred  feet  square, 
and  consisted  of  terraces  raised  one  upon  another  to 
the  height  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  These 
terraces  were  ascended  by  steps  ten  feet  wide,  and 
supported  by  massy  arches  upon  arches  of  solid 
masonry,  the  whole  being  surrounded  and  strengthened 
by  a  wall  twenty-two  feet  thick.  The  floor  of  each 
terrace   was   made   impervious  to  water,  and   covered 


148  MYROX    HOLLEY. 

with  a  sufficient  depth  of  soil  to  support  the  largest 
trees,  and  the  innumerable  shrubs  and  plants  with 
which  it  was  embellished.  And  upon  the  upper  terrace 
was  a  reservoir,  which  was  filled  with  water  from  the 
river  by  an  ingenious  engine,  of  such  dimensions  as  to 
supply  the  moisture  required  by  all  the  terraces." 

We  judge  from  this  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  a 
great  improvement  upon  Cheops.  He  did  more 
to  gratify  the  living  and  quite  as  much  to  immor- 
talize himself  with  posterity.  Mr.  Holley  notices 
the  gardens  and  groves  of  Greece,  where  the 
immortal  Epicurus  and  Plato  taught  what  some 
of  the  sagest  of  our  modern  sages  are  happy  to 
revive,  and  of  Rome  he  says  :  — 

"  The  Romans  were  peculiarly  fond  of  gardens.  In 
their  cities  the  common  people  used  to  have  representa- 
tions of  them  in  their  windows.  And  several  of  their 
noble  families  derived  their  names  from  their  cultivation 
of  certain  kinds  of  garden  vegetables ;  as  the  Fabii, 
Lentuli  and  Lactucini.  So  attached  to  gardens  were 
the  lowest  populace  of  Rome,  that  in  the  inimitably 
artful  speech  of  Antony  over  the  bod}'  of  Caesar,  as 
presented  to  us  by  Shakespeare,  the  last  degree  of 
indignation  is  excited  in  their  minds  against  his  mur- 
derers,  by  the  generous  disposition  which  they  were 
told  Caesar  had  made  of  his  gardens  in  his  will.  Antony 
assures  them,  '  Moreover  he  hath  left  you  all  his  walks, 
his  private  arbors,  and  new-planted  orchards  on  this 
side  Tiber;  —  he  hath  left  them  to  you,  and  to  you: 


HORTICULTURE .  149 

heirs  forever,  common  pleasures  to  walk  abroad  and 
recreate  yourselves.'  Upon  this  they  could  no  longer 
be  restrained,  but  resolved,  at  once,  to  burn  the  traitors' 
houses." 

The  reader  will  certainly  forgive  me  for  closing 
this  chapter  with  a  long  extract  from  a  discourse 
well  deserving  to  be  incorporated  in  full  in  the 
permanent  literature  of  our  country.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  it  produced  many  gardens,  in  an 
intellectual  as  well  as  physical  sense.  It  ought 
more  and  more  to  guide  the  cultured  youth  of  our 
country  to  an  occupation  grander  and  happier 
than  the  pursuit  of  political  power  or  inordinate 
wealth. 

The  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  are  now  vieing 
with  each  other  in  Horticultural  establishments.  And 
since  the  discoveries  of  Linnaeus,  a  new  and  most  valu- 
able object  has  been  extensively  connected  with  man}r 
of  them,  which  has  given  them  additional  claims  to 
intelligent  favor.  I  allude  to  the  promotion  of  Botanic 
science.  Europe  has  numerous  public  and  private  gar- 
dens, in  which  the  splendors  of  Horticulture  are  most 
happil}*  combined  with  this  enchanting  pursuit. 

In  our  country  there  have  been  several  attempts,  by 
individuals  and  by  associations,  to  effect  the  same 
agreeable  combination.  These  attempts  are  exceed- 
ingly laudable,  and,  if  duly  encouraged,  will  insure  ex- 
tensive and  lasting  benefits.  They  are  like  to  be 
essentially  aided  by  the  United  States    government ; 


150  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

for,  (luring  the  last  }'ear,  we  were  told  b}T  one  of  its 
public  functionaries  that  the  President  had  much  at 
heart  the  introduction  into  our  country,  from  abroad,  of 
plants  of  every  description  not  already  known  among 
us,  whether  used  as  food  or  for  purposes  connected  with 
the  arts,  through  the  agency  of  our  ministers,  consuls, 
and  other  public  agents  in  foreign  countries. 

Ornamental  gardening,  in  its  broadest  range,  has 
at  one  time  or  another  been  made  to  include  almost 
eveiy  class  of  objects,  both  in  nature  and  art,  from  the 
association  of  which  pleasure  could  naturally  be  derived. 
Milton  describes  the  garden  of  Eden  as  containing  '  in 
narrow  room  nature's  whole  wealth,  yea,  more,  a  heaven 
on  earth.' 

But  the  more  restricted  and  essential  idea  of  a  gar- 
den, is  that  of  a  place  where,  b}T  the  aid  of  cultivation, 
vegetable  productions  may  be  reared  more  excellent  in 
kind,  and  more  pleasing  in  distribution,  than  the  ordi- 
nary growth  of  nature.  Beauty  and  use  are  both  in- 
cluded, though  they  ma}T  both  exist  in  almost  infinite 
diversity  of  relative  proportions,  according  to  the  diver- 
sities of  taste,  and  skill,  and  means  in  cultivators. 

The  direct  objects  of  gardening,  in  the  most  restricted 
definition,  besides  earth  and  water,  are  trees  and  shrubs, 
and  fruits,  and  flowers,  and  esculent  vegetables,  with 
the  best  modes  of  propagating,  nourishing,  arranging, 
improving,  and  preserving  them.  To  these  objects  the 
manuring,  mixing,  and  working  of  soils,  the  construc- 
tion of  fences,  walks,  terraces,  quarters,  borders,  trel- 
lises, arbors,  and  implements,  are  everywhere  subsidiary  : 
while  in  climates  subject  to  frosts,  the  wTall,  the  hot- 
bed, and  the  green-house,  are  valuable  and  agreeable 
auxiliaries. 


HORTICULTURE.  151 

The  successful  conduct  of  the  business  of  a  garden 
requires  labor,  vigilance,  and  knowledge.  Ever  since 
the  sentence  of  the  Most  High  subjected  man  to  earn 
his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  face,  labor  has  been  the 
appointed  means  of  his  advancement  and  happiness. 
Without  it.  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  have  healthy  bodies 
or  cheerful  minds  ;  and  the  worth  of  all  the  valuable 
possessions  which  we  acquire  is  measured  by  the  amount 
of  it  which  they  respectively  involve.  It  is  not  wonder- 
fid,  therefore,  that  much  of  it  is  essential  to  th^  most 
desirable  Horticulture,  though  it  is  not  merely  gross 
corporal  labor  that  is  required. 

'  Strength  may  wield  the  ponderous  spade, 
May  tarn  the  clod,  and  wheel  the  comport  home; 
But  elegance,  chief  grace  the  garden  shows, 
And  most  attractive,  is  the  fair  result 
Of  thought,  the  creature  of  a  polished  mind." 

And  labor  is  not  more  indispensable  than  vigilance — 
keen-sighted,  unremitted  vigilance.  Many  of  the  nurse- 
lings of  the  garden  are  so  tender  and  so  exposed  to  ac- 
cidents for  months  together,  that  an  hour's  neglect  may 
lead  to  cureless  ruin,  and  disappoint  hopes  long  and 
fondly  cherished. 

BiU  without  knowledge,  labor  and  vigilance  are  vain. 
The  accomplished  gardener  must  know  the  best  manner 
and  time  of  performing  a  great  multiplicity  of  manual 
operations  peculiar  to  each  season  of  the  year,  all  of 
which  are  essential  to  his  success,  and  the  knowledge  of 
which  cannot  be  obtained  without  experience  and  obser- 
vation. Every  direct,  and  every  subsidiary  object  of 
his  pursuit,  demands  care,  and  reflection,  and  know- 
ledge.    He  must  not  only  know  the  modes  and  times  of 


152  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

propagating  trees,  and  shrubs,  and  flowers,  of  which 
there  are  several  already  understood,  as  applicable  to 
man}'  of  them  ;  the  proper  use  of  the  priming-knife,  so 
essential  to  some  of  his  highest  purposes  ;  the  various 
means  of  improving  the  flavor  and  size  of  fruits  which 
will  be  acknowledged  to  have  been  the  most  success- 
fullv  introduced,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  largest 
and  most  delicious  apples  upon  our  tables  have  been  de- 
rived from  the  austere  English  crab  ;  the  measures  most 
effective  towards  meliorating  the  less  esteemed  culinary 
vegetables,  which  he  will  not  consider  unimportant 
when  he  learns  that  some  of  them,  now  the  most  savoiy 
and  nutritious,  were  in  their  uncultivated  state  of  but 
little  claim  to  notice,  such  as  the  asparagus,  the  celery, 
the  cauliflower,  the  potatoe  ;  the  charming  art  of  man- 
aging flowers,  by  which  the  single  and  almost  scentless 
blossoms  of  nature  have  been  swelled  into  much  greater 
compass  and  new  varieties  of  beaut}',  and  filled  with  in- 
tenser  fragrance  ;  but  the  accomplished  gardener  should 
understand  the  best  method  of  acclimating  plants  not 
indigenous,  which  may  contribute  prodigiously  to  em- 
bellishment and  use,4ind  which  involves  the  knowledge 
of  botanical  geography.  And  he  should  have  all  that 
science  which  may  be  conducive  to  the  utmost  possible 
perfection  of  every  subject  of  his  care.  To  this  end. 
chemistry,  natural  history,  and  botany,  are  necessary. 

The  productions  of  the  garden  are  affected  either  for 
evil  or  for  good,  in  different  stages  of  their  growth,  by  the 
most  minute  and  the  most  magnificent  objects  in  nature, 
b}T  the  bugs,  by  the  worms,  b}r  the  flies,  by  the  birds, 
by  the  clouds,  b}'  the  air,  by  the  sun.  The  knowledge  of 
these  objects,  with  all  their  means  of  favor  or  anno}*- 
ance.  and  the  superadded  knowledge  of  all  the  other  ob- 


HORTICUI  .TUEE .  153 

jects  and  means  by  which  the  effects  of  these,  so  far  as 
they  are  good,  may  be  promoted,  and  so  far  as  the)' are 
evil,  may  be  prevented,  should  be  embraced  within  the 
scope  of  his  acquirements.  The  science  of  Horticulture, 
therefore,  does  not  merely  admit,  it  demands,  excites, 
and  favors  the  most  extensive  and  diversified  intel- 
lectual attainments. 

But  it  has  pleasures  to  bestow  which  amply  repay  all 
its  demands  both  upon  the  mind  and  body. 

It  gratifies  all  the  senses. 

The  feeling  is  gratified  by  its  smooth  walks,  its  soft 
banks,  the  touch  of  many  of  its  leaves,  and  fruits,  and 
flowers,  and  by  the  refreshing  coolness  of  its  shades. 

The  smell  is  agreeably  excited  from  unnumbered 
sources.  —  from  the  lowliest  pot-herb  to  the  stateliest 
tree  ;  from  the  humble  violet  and  mignonnette  to  the 
splendid  tulip  and  queenly  rose,  —  a  garden  is  the  un- 
rivalled repositorv  of  fragrance. 

The  gratification  of  the  ear  in  a  garden  is  adventi- 
tious, not  of  man's  procurement,  but  nevertheless  cer- 
tain and  real.  The  most  tasteful  of  its  animal  creation, 
in  their  flight  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other, 
discover  no  spot  so  alluring  to  them  as  a  well-replen- 
ished garden.  The  birds  are  fond  of  its  shade,  its 
flowers,  and  its  fruits.  Amidst  these  they  love  to 
build  their  nests,  rear  their  voung,  and  first  win  them 
to  that  element  which  seems  created  to  be  their  pecu- 
liar field  of  jo}\  And  if  they  sometimes  commit  un- 
welcome inroads  upon  the  delicacies  which  we  prize, 
they  more  than  compensate  us  by  their  cheerful  and 
continual  songs,  and  by  destroying  innumerable  insects 
and  more  dangerous  intruders  in  the  air,  in  the  trees, 
upon  the  plants,  and  on  the  ground. 


154  MYROX   HOLLEY. 

The  taste  finds  its  choicest  regalement  in  the  garden, 
in  its  sweet  roots,  its  crisp  and  tender  salads,  its  nutri- 
tious and  acceptable  pulse,  its  pungent  and  salutary 
condiments,  its  fragrant  and  delicious  fruits,  with  a 
countless  list  of  other  palatable  productions,  all  exist- 
ing in  such  inexhaustible  variety  that  the  art  of  cookeiy 
takes  more  than  half  its  subjects  from  that  overflowing 
storehouse. 

But  the  eye  delights  in  a  garden,  as  if  all  its  labors, 
its  cares,  and  its  knowledge  had  been  dedicated  to  that 
single  sense.  From  every  quarter,  and  border,  and 
arbor ;  from  every  bank,  and  walk,  and  plant,  and 
shrub,  and  tree,  and  every  combination  of  group?, 
spring  forms  of  beaut}-,  natural  though  cultivated,  in- 
nocent though  gay. 

Horticulture  gratifies  the  higher  faculties  of  our 
nature,  the  intellectual  taste,  the  reason  and  the  heart. 


ANTI-MASONRY.  155 


CHAPTEK   XYIII. 


ANTI-3IASOXRY. 


Had  Mr.  Holler,  when  he  retired  from  public 
serrice,    consulted   his    own   personal   tastes,    the 
home,  the  garden,  and  the  education  of  his  chil_ 
dren  would  have   absorbed  the   rest   of  his   life. 
But  two  great  social  questions  were  at  the   door. 
Xo   man  more   than  he  was   qualified  to  answer. 
One  of  these  questions  concerned  the  social  value  of 
the  institution  of  Free  Masonry.     It  is  recorded  of 
this  institution  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  the  His- 
tory of  Ontario  County,  page  63  :    "  The  order  in 
1826  numbered  in  the  state  360  lodges  and  22,000 
members.     Ten  years  later,  and  the  lodges  were  75 
and  the  members    4,000."     A  similar   shrinkage, 
though  perhaps  in  a  lower  ratio,  occurred  in  other 
states,  within  the   same  period.     Xo  subject,  ex- 
cept that  of  slavery,  has  ever  produced  intenser 
excitement  in  this  country  than  broke  out  in  regard 
to  Free  Masonry  in  Central  Xew  York  in   1826, 
and  prevailed  for  ten  years.     Mr.  Holley,  though 


156  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

never  himself  a  mason,  had  family  connections 
and  political  friends  who  were.  If  any  good  grew 
out  of  that  excitement, — and  probably  the  opinion 
that  much  did  is  now  as  strong  inside  of  masonic 
lodges  as  outside, — to  no  one  man  is  it  due  more 
than  to  Mr.  Holley.  The  lesson  to  mankind, 
which  reformed,  if  it  did  not  extinguish,  the  order, 
was,  in  its  most  impressive  shape,  his.  It  was 
delivered  with  disinterestedness,  dignity,  and 
masterly  force.  Justice  cannot  be  done  to  his 
character  and  acts  in  this  behalf  without  some 
detail  of  the  facts.  Though  he  was  not  a  mason 
himself,  the  husband  of  one  of  his  daughters  was. 
The  order  everywhere  embraced  men  of  the  high- 
est respectability,  with  whom  he  had  been  intimate 
in  public  life.  Therefore,  when  it  was  said  in  1826 
that  a  large  number  of  masons  had  together  commit- 
ted a  crime,  the  highest  known  to  the  law,  and  the 
order  justified  it,  he  was  not  one  of  the  first  to 
believe  it.  It  was  not  till  he  clearly  saw,  to  his 
astonishment,  that  the  courts  of  justice  were  ob- 
structed and  overawed,  that  he  applied  his  mind 
to  the  study  of  the  facts  and  the  character  of  the 
institution.  And  the  moment  he  had  reached  a 
firm  conclusion,  he  did  not  confer  with  flesh  and 
blood.     Masonry  became,  in    his    mind,  a   thing 


AXTI-MASOXRY.  157 

which  had  no  right  to  exist,  and  he  jrave  his 
reasons  on  every  fitting  occasion,  at  any  sacrifice 
of  his  personal  comfort. 

Of  course  this  was  very  natural.  For  a  man 
to  whom  the  family  was  the  focus  of  human  hap- 
piness, and  justice  the  vital  principle  of  human 
society,  any  institution  which  segregated  a  body 
of  men  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  including  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  their  own  families,  under 
oaths  of  secresy,  backed  by  horrible  penalties, 
could  have  no  attractions.  He  never  had  any 
time  or  taste  for  anything  of  that  sort.  But  when 
it  became  plain  that  such  an  institution  could  be 
used  and  had  been  used,  not  only  against  the  fam- 
ily, but  against  free  government,  he  became  its 
uncompromising  enemy . 

In  the  ten  years'  excitement  about  Free  Masonry 
its  history  was  thoroughly  scanned.  Some  of  the 
ablest  scholars  were  ensra^ed  in  the  search.  All 
the  records  of  the  past  were  ransacked,  from  the 
remotest  times  down,  by  those  who  were  inter- 
ested to  confirm  its  pretensions  to  a  venerable 
antiquity,  as  well  as  by  those  who  were  willing  to 
overthrow  them.  Xot  the  faintest  ray  of  any  his- 
torical document  or  monument  could  be  found  to 
sustain  these  pretensions  back  of  1717.     In  that 


158  MYRON   HOLLET. 

year,  at  the  Apple  Tree  Inn,  in  London,  some  in- 
genious romancers  set  up  the  institution,  with  its 
odd  rituals,  secret  grips,  monstrous  oaths,  pro- 
fessions of  philanthropy,  sanctity,  and  hoary 
antiquity.  And  as  the  glory  of  Solomon  and  his 
marvellous  temple  was  then  unquestioned,  every- 
body was  ready  enough  to  believe  anything  which 
apparently  added  to  it.  The  pretended  masonic 
history  seemed  to  confirm  the  sacred.  The  sacred 
history  certainly  does  not  confirm  the  masonic,  but 
in  these  days  has  too  much  need  of  confirmation 
itself.  The  most  thorough  and  painstaking  exca- 
vations have  revealed  nothing  of  a  temple  existing 
before  that  which  Titus  destroyed.  And  if  it  did, 
and  revealed  the  dimensions  described  in  the 
sacred  writings  of  the  Jews,  it  is  difficult  now  to 
believe  that  22,000  oxen  and  120,000  sheep  were 
sacrificed  in  it  in  the  fourteen  days  of  the  dedica- 
tion. The  building  was  not  large  enough,  even 
if  furnished  with  modern  machinery.  Solomon 
seems  to  have  had  enough  to  do  in  providing  en- 
tertainment for  a  fabulous  amount  of  female 
society,  without  founding  lodges  exclusively  of 
males,  in  which  to  go  through  those  not  very 
amusing  ceremonies  described  by  William  Morgan. 
Incredible  as  now  it  may  seem,  Free  Masonry 


ANTI-MASOXRY.  159 

spread  rapidly  in  Europe.  It  had  certain  social 
advantages,  mutual  aid,  a  resource  against  peril 
anions  strangers.  The  lodire  was  a  convenient 
nidus,  in  which  to  hatch  plans  of  resistance  to 
ecclesiastical  or  political  persecution.  In  America, 
it  enjoyed  considerable  popularity  before  the  revo- 
lution, as  a  benevolent  and  patriotic  institution, 
and  it  did  not  conflict  with  ecclesiastical  domina- 
tion, because  it  professed  profound  respect  for  the 
Bible  as  a  divine  revelation.  A  number  of  the 
leaders  of  the  revolution,  as  Washington  and  La- 
fayette, were,  or  rather  had  been,  brothers  of  the 
"mystic  tie."  But  plainly  enough,  the  institution 
could  not  have  had  any  weight  to  throw  in  favor 
of  the  separation  of  these  colonies  from  the 
mother  country,  if  it  did  not  wei^h  against  it. 
It  was  only  too  weak,  if  it  had  wished,  to  prevent 
a  separation,  when  justice  required  it.  During 
the  revolution  it  flourished  considerably  in  the 
American  army,  and  had  movable  lodges.  Gen. 
Henry  Sewall,  during  the  anti-masonic  excitement, 
said  he  was  induced  to  join  that  he  might  fare 
better  in  case  he  should  be  made  a  prisoner.  Its 
chief  use  seems  to  have  been  to  relieve  the  tedium 
of  Ions;  intervals  of  inaction. 

At  a  later  period,   after  the  war  of  1812,  Free 


160  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

Masonry  began  to  grow  rapidly,  and  developed 
political  significance,  especially  to  those  who  were 
watchful  observers,  in  regard  to  minor  offices. 
Doubtless  it  was  this  feature  which  led  to  its 
trouble.  The  secresy  of  the  order  was  the  more 
precious,  and  the  more  jealously  to  be  guarded, 
the  more  it  had  political  aims.  That  it  had  such 
aims  not  only  turned  out  to  be  the  fact,  but  it  was 
indiscreet  enough  in  the  person  of  one  of  its  ora- 
tors, W.  F.  Brainard,  Esq.,  of  New  London,  Ct., 
to  boast  of  it.  An  oration  which  he  delivered, 
June  24,  1825,  in  that  place,  has  this  remarkable 
passage,  which  does  not  seem  to  have  attracted 
any  notice  or  comment  till  after  the  abduction  and 
murder  of  Morgan  in  the  year  following. 

"  What  is  Masonry  now?  It  is  powerful. 
It  comprises  men  of  rank,  wealth,  office  and 
talent,  in  power  and  out  of  power ;  and  that 
in  almost  every  place  where  power  is  of  any 
importance;  and  it  comprises  among  other 
classes  of  the  community,  to  the  lowest,  in 
largo?  numbers,  active  men,  united  together, 
and  capable  of  being  directed  by  others,  so  as 
to  have  the  force  of  concert  throughout  the 
civilized  ivorid!     They  are  distributed,  too, 


ANTI-MASONRY .  161 

ivith  the  means  of  faioiving  one  another,  and 
the  means  of  keeping  secret,  and  the  means 
of  co-operating,  in  the  desk;  in  the  legislative 
hall;  on  the  bench;  in  every  gathering  of 
business;  in  every  party  of  pleasure;  in 
every  enterprise  of  government ;  in  every 
domestic  circle;  in  peace  and  in  war;  among 
enemies  and  friends;  in  one  place  as  well  as 
in  another!  So  poiverfid,  indeed,  is  it  at 
this  time,  that  it  fears  nothing  from  violence, 
either  public  or  private;  for  it  has  every 
means  to  learn  it  in  season,  to  counteract, 
defeat  and  punish  UP 

TThen  it  became  known  the  next  year  that  a 
band  of  Masons  had  assumed  powers  belonging 
only  to  ministers  of  the  law,  had  bound  a  man, 
confined  him  in  a  government  fortress  and  put 
him  out  of  si^ht,  then  it  was  discovered  that 
Orator  Brainard  was '  only  describing  an  accom- 
plished fact.  All  the  courts  of  Western  New 
York  were  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  masonic 
fraternity,  and  bound  by  extra-judicial  oaths  not 
to  do  justice. 

It  is  of  no  consequence  to  the  present  narrative 


162  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

what  the  motives  of  William  Morgan  were  in  pub- 
lishing the  secrets  for  which  he  was  put  to  death. 
Whether  he  was  patriotic  or  not,  his  act  resulted 
in  a  most  fortunate  deliverance  for  his  country. 
Free  Masonry  deserved  its  punishment,  if  a 
republic  deserves  to  exist.  About  all  of  Free 
Masonry  that  exists  now  is  the  name,  which  is  not 
objectionable.  There  must  be  clubs,  cliques  and 
coteries,  for  people  who  do  not  fit  elsewhere,  or 
for  whom  the  actual  world  is  unfit.  But  they 
must  not  govern  the  whole. 

Secresy  is  good  in  the  right  place  and  for 
honorable  purposes.  But  it  becomes  a  crime 
when  it  shields  crime  from  justice.  For  publish- 
ing secrets,  some  of  which  were  criminal,  Morgan 
was  secretly  murdered  —  secretly  in  regard  to  the 
outside  world,  but  not  to  the  masonic  world.  To 
the  free-masons,  for  at  least  fifty  miles  on  every 
side,  Morgan's  destruction  was  deliberately  pre- 
determined, none  dissenting,  if  all  did  not  consent. 
There  was  no  form  of  trial.  It  was  a  foregone 
conclusion  that  he  must  die.  The  onlv  delibera- 
tion  or  hesitation  was  as  to  the  best  method  of 
effecting  the  murder  so  as  to  conceal  it  from  the 
public,  and  here  in  the  multitude  of  counsellors 
the  free-masons  supposed  there  was  safety.     In 


ANTI-MASONRY.  163 

the  darkness  of  night,  as  is  now  known  beyond 
doubt,  they  dropped  him  into  Lake  Ontario  with 
a  weight  attached,  and  reported  he  had  fled  to 
Canada.  The  executioners  fled,  and  were  sup- 
ported by  the  money  of  the  order  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  ministers  of  public  justice,  if  the 
latter  should  ever  come  to  suspect  who  they  were. 
But  it  was  all  in  vain.  In  fact,  the  concealment 
was  overdone. 

In  spite  of  the  combined  efforts  of  hundreds  of 
free-masons  to  suppress  the  revelation,  even  by 
setting  fire  to  the  office  where  the  printing  was 
going  on,  and  abducting  and  murdering  its  author, 
the  little  pamphlet  got  into  existence  and  silently 
spoke  to  the  living  after  the  lips  of  its  author 
were  sealed  in  death  at  the  bottom  of  Lake 
Ontario.  It  professed  to  give  the  silly  rites  and 
execrable  oaths  of  the  first  three  degrees,  which 
was  the  whole  of  the  writer's  masonic  experience. 
Masons,  high  and  low,  were  either  ominously 
silent,  or  sneered  at  the  thing  as  a  sham,  unworthy 
of  the  slightest  attention.  But  wise  men  like 
Myron  Holley,  who  had  never  been  inside  a  lodge, 
began  to  ponder.  One  thing  was  certain,  Morgan 
was  not  to  be  found.  That  fact  became  every  day 
more  important.     Mr.  Holley  had  a  distinguished 


164  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

son-in-law  who  was  a  free-mason.  The  father-in- 
law  was  proud  of  him.  His  best  friend  in  his 
great  canal  enterprise,  De  Witt  Clinton,  had  been 
a  free-mason.  Free-masons  were  all  around  him 
in  the  highest  ranks  of  life.  He  was  not  the  man 
to  accuse  them  of  participation  in  such  a  crime, 
but  he  could  ask  them, —  why,  if  Morgan  is  any- 
where in  this  world  alive,  your  order  being 
co-extensive  with  the  world,  don't  you  produce 
him,  and  quiet  this  terrible  excitement?  If  this 
revelation  of  his  is  of  no  consequence,  why  should 
you  not  show  that  you  so  regard  it  by  bringing 
him  back  to  his  family?  At  any  rate,  if  he  has 
not  been  murdered,  why  do  you  not  bestir  your- 
selves to  let  the  public  know  what  has  really 
become  of  him  ?     But  they  did  not. 

The  excitement  grew  more  and  more  intense. 
It  blazed  up  in  every  family  in  Western  New 
York.  It  burned  into  the  adjoining  states.  In 
spite  of  the  united  efforts  of  masons  everywhere  to 
smother  it  under  wet  blankets,  it  continued  to 
spread.  Presently  masons  of  the  most  respectable 
character  began  to  confess  the  truth  of  Morgan's 
disclosures  and  abandon  the  order.  This  was  the 
inevitable  result  of  the  outside  investigations 
which  in  not  many  months  ascertained  beyond  a 


AXTI-MASOXRY.  165 

reasonable  doubt  the  names  of  more  than  a  score 
of  persons  actively  concerned  in  the  abduction  and 
incarceration  of  Morgan.  Many  of  these  were 
persons  who  had  been  highly  respected.  They 
were  all,  without  a  single  exception,  masons. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  1828,  an  encampment 
of  Knights  Templars  at  Leroy,  X.  Y.,  after  a 
protracted  struggle  between  members  who  ap- 
proved and  disapproved  the  Morgan  outrage, 
resolved  by  a  majority  to  disclose  all  the  secrets 
and  diabolical  oaths  known  to  them,  and  this 
included  twelve  degrees  of  masonry  beyond  those 
revealed  by  Morgan.  In  the  July  following, 
these  were  published,  with  eighteen  more  added, 
making  thirty-three  in  all.  In  1829  a  very  able 
committee,  including  the  names  of  Samuel  Weeks, 
Harvev  Elv  and  Thurlow  Weed,  reported  to  a 
State  Convention  assembled  at  Albany,  "More 
than  four  hundred  initiates,  within  our  own  State, 
including  members  of  every  degree,  from  the 
Entered  Apprentice  to  the  Thrice  Illustrious 
Knights  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  have  publicly 
renounced  the  institution.  Thousands  have  silent- 
ly withdrawn.''  It  was  thus  demonstrated  beyond 
any  possibility  of  contradiction  or  doubt,  that  the 
fraternity  were  bound  by  oaths  from  the  top   to 


166  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

the  bottom,  not  only  to  do  in  any  similar  case 
what  had  been  done  to  Morgan,  but  to  screen 
from  punishment  any  crime  committed  by  a 
mason,  not  excepting,  in  some  of  the  degrees, 
Murder  and  Treason.  It  was  found  that  bribery 
and  counterfeiting  had  been  thus  screened  to  an 
enormous  extent.  At  every  step  upward  into  the 
high-sounding  degrees  the  oaths  grew  more  and 
more  horrible,  which  accounted  for  the  fact  that 
so  many  of  the  best  of  men  had  stopped  before 
ascending  very  high. 

The  address  of  this  convention  to  the  people 
of  the  State  of  New  York  was  the  work  of  Myron 
Holley.  The  following  paragraphs  will  show  its 
force  and  spirit : 

Fellow  Citizens,  — A  great  crisis  has  occurred  in  our 
social  condition.  The  peace  of  this  community  has 
been  extensively  disturbed,  the  domestic  security  of  its 
citizens  openly  violated,  their  property  unlawfully  in- 
vaded, and  the  life  of  one  of  them,  without  doubt, 
feloniously  destroyed.  And  these  calamitous  events 
have  proceeded  from  a  source  which  threatens  our  most 
valuable  institutions,  and  all  those  possessions  which 
make  life  desirable. 

We  will  not  disguise  the  painful  conviction  of  our 
minds,  and  we  cannot  suppress  it,  that  we  are  com- 
mencing a  course  of  action,  which  will  necessarily  bring 
with  it  much  disquietude  and  distress.     The  intercourse 


ANTI-MASONKY.  167 

of  business  will  be  obstructed,  the  laudable  associations 
of  neighborhoods  will  be  convulsed,  and  many  of  the 
best  sympathies  of  our  nature  will  be  violently  turned 
awav  from  their  customary  channels.  Such  a  course 
of  action  should  not  be  commenced  for  slight  or  transient 
causes.  Nothing  which  does  not  affect  the  essence  of 
our  freedom,  and  which  does  not  manifest  itself  in  the 
most  decisive  and  solemn  forms,  can  justify  it.  But 
when  the  public  peace,  our  domestic  safety,  our  prop- 
erty, our  life,  our  reputation,  our  equal  rights  as  citi- 
zens, are  all  assailed,  lyv  the  concerted  action  of  nu- 
merous, wealth}',  intelligent  and  powerful  bodies  of  men  ; 
and  the  regular  operation  of  our  constituted  authori- 
ties is  found  unable  to  protect  us,  then,  it  is  equally  be- 
coming to  our  minds  and  hearts,  to  our  self-respect 
and  the  most  cherished  interests  of  human  liberty',  that 
we  should  protect  ourselves,  whatever  evils  may  ensue. 

The  address  then  goes  on  to  state  succinctly 
the  circumstances  of  the  abduction  and  the  way 
the  free-masons  concealed  and  protected  the  per- 
petrators, —  closing  as  follows,  after  recommend- 
ing political  action : 

"  To  this  resort  we  are  summoned  by  every  fear  and 
every  hope  which  can  affect  the  souls  of  free  men.  Our 
country  appeals  to  us  to  make  this  effort  in  a  cause  as 
sacred  and  high  as  any  that  ever  was  promoted  by 
human  means  ;  and  by  all  the  sorrows  and  joys,  by  all 
the  proudest  blessings,  vaunted  recollections,  and  exult- 
ing anticipations,  of  oar  social  condition.  And  let  us 
not   fear  the   charge  of    too  much   '  excitement.'      In 


3 


168  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

such  a  cause,  excitement  brings  blame  only  to  those 
with  whom  it  is  weak  or  wavering.  What  individual 
has  ever  satisfied  himself  in  a  good  cause,  without  ex- 
citement? What  nation  has  ever  wrested  its  liberties 
from  the  grasp  of  tyranny  without  excitement? 
Whence  originate  the  purest  virtues,  and  the  most  ex- 
alted achievements,  of  created  intelligences  but  from 
powerful  excitement?  The  strongest  love  of  justice, 
the  quickest  indignation  at  wrong,  and  the  most  impas- 
sioned admiration  of  beneficence  are  the  appropriate 
signatures  of  a  superior  nature  ;  but  these  are  only 
other  names  for  high  excitement.  And  such  excite- 
ment the  cause  we  are  engaged  in  both  requires  and 
sanctifies. " 

The  Anti-Masonic  movement  culminated  in  a 
National  Convention,  held  in  Philadelphia,  on 
the  11th  of  September,  1830,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  this  State  Convention,  held  in  Al- 
bany. Eleven  States  were  represented  by  112 
self-elected  delegates,  eleven  of  whom  were 
seceding  masons,  some  of  high  decree.  Anions 
these  delegates  were  such  men  as  Pliny  Merrick 
and  Amasa  Walker,  of  Massachusetts  ;  Nathaniel 
Terry,  Zalmon  Storrs  and  John  M.  Holley,  of 
Connecticut ;  Henry  Dana  Ward,  Francis 
Granger,  William  II.  Seward  and  Myron  Holley, 
of  New  York ;  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Joseph  Ritner, 
and  Harmar  Denny,   of  Pennsylvania ;    William 


AXTI-MASOXRY.  169 

Slade,   of    Vermont ;    Frederick  Wadsworth,    of 

Ohio  ;  and  Ellison  Conger,  of  X.  J.  That  con- 
vention put  forth  an  "  Address  to  the  People 
of  the  United  States,*'  from  the  pen  of  Myron 
Holler,  and  signed  by  the  112  delegates.  It  was 
like  the  appearance  of  a  disciplined  and  invulner- 
able police  force  in  the  face  of  an  unarmed  mob. 
It  won  a  victory  without  striking  a  blow.  Mason- 
ry saw  by  that  address,  that  Anti-Masonry  had 
made  up  its  mind  to  carry  the  war  into  politics, 
and  that  its  onlr  chance  of  saving  even  its  name 
was  by  backing  out  of  politics.  And  it  did  back 
out.  Never  since  that  has  any  political  party 
dared  to  build  a  hope  on  the  masonic  character  of 
a  candidate.  Lodges  simply  courted  oblivion. 
Any  unprejudiced  person  has  only  to  peruse  that 
overwhelming  address  to  see  that  its  grand  idea 
triumphed  in  its  utterance,  though  for  some  years 
an  anti-masonic  organization  was  kept  up  to  show 
that  anti-masons  were  in  earnest. 

In  1828,  though  the  anti- masons  had  no  pro- 
spect of  a  majority  in  the  state  for  the  choice  of 
Governor,  as  neither  party  would  put  up  a  candi- 
date opposed  to  masonry,  they  voted  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  for  a  candidate  of  their  own. 
The  rote  stood  for  Governor : 


170  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

Democratic,   .     Martin  Van  Buren,     136,794 
Whig,  .     .     .     Smith  Thompson,       106,444      , 
Anti-Masonic,    Solomon  South  wick,    33,345 

In  1830,  both  the  leading  parties  professedly 
ignored  masonry  as  an  issue,  but  the  Whig  party 
had  the  wisdom  to  select  for  its  candidate  a  de- 
clared anti-mason,  while  his  democratic  rival  was 
supposed  to  be  neutral.  This  in  effect  made  the 
Whig  and  Anti-Masonic  parties  identical,  though 
nominally  the  anti-masons  had  a  candidate  in  the 
field.     The  vote  stood  : 

Democratic,     .     .    Enos  T.  Throop,  128,842 
Whig&  Anti-M.,    Francis  Granger,  120,861    . 
Anti-Masonic,       .    Ezekiel  Williams,     2,332 

The  reduction  of  the  aggregate  vote  nearly  ten 
per  cent,  from  the  previous  election  must  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  large  number  of  democrats 
who  had  renounced  masonry,  but  were  not  ready 
to  join  their  old  opponents,  the  whigs,  or  condemn 
their  past  by  joining  the  anti-masons.  Doubtless 
more  than  20,000  voters  felt  the  stunning  blow  of 
the  Philadelphia  Convention  and  were  not  in  a 
mental  condition  to  vote  at  all.  By  1832  the 
local  excitement  had  somewhat  subsided  and 
national    politics     resumed    sway.       William   L. 


ANTI-MASONRY.  171 

Marcy  as  democratic  candidate  for  Governor  re- 
ceived 166,410  votes,  and  Francis  Granger,  ab- 
sorbing all  the  anti-masonic  votes,  received  156,- 
572.  In  1834,  the  year  of  the  anti-abolition 
mobs  of  New  York,  a  new  question  began  to 
loom  up,  which  so  far  as  it  then  affected  politics 
at  all,  tended  to  strengthen  the  democratic — or 
rather  undemocratic  —  party .  That  year  Wi lliam 
L.  Marcy  had  181,905  votes  for  Governor,  and 
William  H.  Seward,  a  Whig,  and  also  decided 
anti-mason,  had  168,969.  In  1836,  the  Whigs 
committed  the  mistake  of  dropping  Seward  and 
taking  up  Jesse  Buel,  an  inoffensive  sort  of  man 
who  did  not  satisfy  the  strong  anti-masons,  so 
that  Gov.  Marcy  walked  over  the  course.  The 
vote  for  1836  stood  : 

Democratic,  .  Win.  L.  Marcy,  .  166,122 
Whig,  .  .  Jesse  Buel,  .  .  136,648 
Anti-Masonic,    Isaac  S.  Smith,       .         3,496 

In  1838  the  Whig  politicians  of  New  York  were 
astute  enough  to  see  that  Seward's  opposition  to 
masonic  government  and  leaning  towards  abolition- 
ism,  were  not  obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  being  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  vote  of 
192,828,  against  182,461  for  Marcy.  This  was 
substantially  the  final  victory  of  the  anti-masonic 


172 


MYRON   HOLLEY. 


principle.  After  that  another  question  took  the 
field.  The  growth  of  the  popular  movement 
against  secret  political  organizations  and  extra- 
judicial oaths,  is  pretty  well  indicated  by  the  fol- 
lowing growth  of  gubernatorial  votes  :  — 


1828,  . 

.   33,345 

1830,  . 

.  123,193 

1832,  . 

.  156,572 

1834,  . 

.  168,969 

1836,  . 

.  140,144 

1838,  . 

.  192,882 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  anti-masonic  war, 
while  alive  to  all  the  interests  of  peace  and  social 
progress,  Mr.  Holley  was  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fight.  It  has  been  already  said  that  he  was  the 
author  of  its  most  effective  manifesto.  It  has 
been  well  said,  in  praise  of  Daniel  Webster, 
that  he  won  his  cases  by  the  clearness  of  his 
statement,  Mr.  Holley's  statements  of  fact 
were  in  the  highest  degree  clear,  Websterian, 
and  judicial ;  and  when  he  had  convinced  the  un- 
derstanding' he  warmed  the  heart.  While  he 
denounced  the  institution,  he  was  tender  towards 
its  victims.  Of  its  members  he  said:  "A  large 
proportion  cherish  no  part  of  the  spirit  of  the  in- 
stitution.    Invited  to  join,   by  its   lofty    preten- 


ANTI-MASONKY.  173 

sions,  in  early  life  they  entered  its  threshold. 
And  though  disgusted  at  every  step,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  understanding  an  institution  which  they 
had  once  consented  to  enter,  they  suffered  them- 
selves to  be  raised  to  the  second  or  third  degree. 
Nothing  could  induce  them  to  go  further.  Such 
were  most  of  the  masons  whose  illustrious  names 
have  been  so  often  abusively  and  boastfully  ar- 
raved  to  shield  the  institution  from  the  consuming 
reprobation  now  everywhere  provoked  against  it, 
in  unprejudiced  minds,  by  its  full  and  accurate 
exposure.  These  men  in  the  bottom  of  their  souls 
have  all  renounced  it." 

Most  striking  confirmations  of  the  truth  of  this 
were  brought  out  during  the  anti-masonic  ex- 
citement,  including  such  men  as  Chief- Justice 
Marshall.*     The  national  address  of  1*30,   in  a 

*  The  following  is  an  extract  of  the  touching  letter  of  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  to  Edward  Everett,  dated  Richmond,  July 
22,  1833.  He  had  not  attended  a  lodge  for  thirty  or  forty 
years  :  — 

'•  I  thought  it,  however,  a  harmless  play-thing,  which  would 
live  its  hour  and  pass  away,  until  the  murder  or  abstraction 
of  Morgan  was  brought  before  the  public, — that  atrocious 
crime,  and  I  had  almost  said,  the  still  more  atrocious  sup- 
pression of  the  testimony  concerning  it,  demonstrated  the 
abuse,  of  which  the  oaths  prescribed  by  the  order  were  sus- 
ceptible, and  convinced  me  that  the  institution  ought  to  be 
abandoned  as  one  capable  of  producing  much  evil,  and  inca- 
pable of  producing  any  good,  which  might  not  be  effected  by 
safe  and  open  means." 


174  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

masterly  way,  goes  over  all  the  means  by  which 
the  republic  might  expect  to  relieve  itself  of  this 
tyrannous  "Old  Man  of  the  Sea,"  which  had  fast- 
ened himself  upon  its  shoulders,  and  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  reside  in  the  elective  power 
reserved  to  the  people  themselves.  "In  the  first 
address  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  President  of  the 
United  States,"  says  Mr.  Holley,  he  denominates 
'  the  right  of  election  by  the  people  a  mild  and  safe 
correction  of  abuses,  which  are  lopped  by  the 
sword  of  revolution  where  peaceable  remedies  are 
unprovided.'  This  is  the  only  adequate  correc- 
tive of  freemasonry,  —  that  prolific  source  of  the 
worst  abuses.     And  to  this  we  must  resort." 

His  final  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Fellow-Citizens,  — Are  we  called  to  be  anti-ma- 
sons by  the  best  feelings  of  our  natures  ?  Are  our 
objects  the  highest  that  can  affect  the  civil  character  ? 
Are  our  means  the  most  approved  and  indispensable  ? 
Unite  with  us, — not  for  our  sakes,  but  your  own. 
Aid  us  in  working  out  the  redemption  of  our  country 
from  free-masonry.  We  are  misrepresented  and  cal- 
umniated, as  the  chief  public  means  of  defeating  the 
cause  we  have  espoused.  Examine  by  whom  and 
inquire  into  their  motives.  Be  not  deceived.  If 
individuals  among  us  are  in  fault  through  ignorance, 
or  passion,  or  interest,  or  profligacy,  refuse  thern  your 


ANTI-MASONRY.  175 

confidence.  But  do  not,  therefore,  betray  your  rights, 
and  those  of  your  country  ;  nor  let  those  beguile  you 
into  their  support  who  prefer  secrec}'  to  publicity,  and 
free-masonry  to  republicanism.  We  are  for  practical, 
peaceable,  and  most  necessary  reform,  —  not  for  des- 
truction, but  for  the  establishment  of  right.  Freedom, 
in  ever}'  beneficial  sense,  is  the  soul  of  anti-masonry. 

Further  revelations  of  the  ceremonies  and  principles 
of  free-masonry  are  not  required,  for  these  are  perfectly 
exposed  ;  and  the  exposition  is  so  confirmed  as  to  be  in- 
capable of  material  modification.  It  will  go  down  to  pos- 
terity among  the  undoubted  records  of  imposture  and 
guilt.  But  we  cannot  suppress  our  anxiety  to  commend 
our  cause  to  the  decided  confidence  and  active  support 
of  all  nominal  members  of  the  Fraternity.  Among  such 
there  are  man}'  who  have  long  possessed,  and  who  still 
possess,  our  high  esteem,  and  to  whom  we  are  attached 
by  bonds  of  the  most  inseparable  and  holy  brotherhood, 
those  of  a  common  nature,  common  wants,  and  a  com- 
mon destiny.  We  earnestly  invite  them  to  come  out, 
with  us,  in  defence  of  our  common  interests.  Our  course 
has  been  adopted  after  diligent  inquiry  into  facts,  and 
an  honest  comparison  of  free-masomy  with  the  first 
principles  of  civil  order ;  and  we  have  no  misgiv- 
ings. We  respectfully  suggest  to  them  similar  compar- 
ison and  inquiry.  In  proportion  as  men  do  this  we  find 
our  numbers  increasing ;  and  knowing  the  inquisitive 
character  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  it  is 
scarcely  more  in  our  power  than  it  is  in  our  wish  to  ex- 
clude the  anticipation  of  success.  We  know  free-ma- 
somy cannot  meet  with  their  deliberate  approval. 
When  it  was  least  suspected  of  evil,  and  highest  in  its 
harlequin  attractions  ;  when  that  holiness  to  the  Lord, 


176  MYROX    HOLLEY. 

which  is  inscribed  upon  its  gaudy  garniture,  and  that 
charity  with-  which  its  dark  chambers  are  labelled,  had 
not  been  publicly  detected  as  wholly  counterfeit,  —  we 
know  it  was  not  a  subject  of  their  complacent  regard. 
Shall  the  crimes  with  which  now  it  is  ineffa-jeably 
blasted,  and  the  pertinacity  with  which  it  justifies  them 
pass  without  their  condemnation  and  rebuke?  Shall 
that  abuse  of  their  confidence,  which  first  brought  their 
names  in  connection  with  the  mountebank  retainers  of 
the  order,  be  an  argument  for  sustaining  the  mounte- 
banks, when  their  party  colored  garments  are  seen 
dripping  with  the  blood  of  the  innocent,  and  we  per- 
ceive their  power  to  strike  awa}r  all  the  pledges  of  our 
common  safety? 

We  know  that  the  private  opinions  of  such  members 
will  concur  with  ours.  We  beseech  them  to  concur 
with  us.  in  giving  to  those  opinions  a  public  and  decided 
expression ;  for  that  will  make  them  effectual  to  the 
only  end  we  have  at  heart,  the  overthrow  of  free-ma- 
sonry. We  want  not,  and  we  expect  not,  the  aid  of 
the  sinister,  or  dissolute,  the  slaves  of  office,  of  preju- 
dice, of  vice,  or  of  faction  ;  but  we  anxiously  covet  the 
association  of  all  who  are  willing,  on  all  occasions,  and 
at  all  times,  through  evil  report  and  through  good  re- 
port, to  contend  for  the  great  interests  of  truth,  and  jus- 
tice, and  freedom,  and  that  security  intended  to  be 
conferred  upon  these  interests  by  our  laws  and  consti- 
tutions. With  such  we  are  proud  to  labor,  and,  if  need 
be,  willing  to  suffer,  for  wTe  shall  not  labor  and  suffer  in 
vain.  But  we  perceive  on  all  sides  the  presages  of  our 
success  in  the  unspeakable  importance  of  our  cause  ;  in 
the  intelligence  and  self-respect  of  our  fellow-citizens  ; 
in  the  peaceable  and  just  means  with  which  alone  wc 


ANTI-MASONRY.  177 

mean  to  promote  it ;  in  the  favoring  sympathies  of  the 
enlightened  and  wise  of  every  name  and  clime  ;  and  in 
the  undergoing,  insuppressive,  and  inspiring  hope  with 
which  we  may  seek  for  it  the  protection  of  that  Great 
Being  in  whose  hands  are  all  the  allotments  of  nations, 
and  whose  law  is  that  of  perfect  liberty." 

Myron  Holley  had  been  induced  to  take  this 
decided  and  uncompromising  position  of  making 
anti-masonry  a  permanent  political  issue  by  two 
things,  his  love  of  the  family  and  his  love  of  free 
government.  The  latter  object  of  love  was  for 
the  sake  of  the  former.  Yet  a  man  whose  strong- 
est affection  is  for  his  family,  has  sometimes  to 
sacrifice  his  own  domestic  interests,  for  the  inter- 
ests of  that  government  wdiich  is  the  best  pro- 
tector of  all  domestic  interests.  The  scant  and 
tardy  justice  accorded  to  Mr.  Holley 's  claim  after 
long  and  expensive  attendance  on  the  legislature 
did  not  leave  him  the  means  of  supporting  a  large 
family  and  at  the  same  time  doing  what  the  anti- 
masonic  exigency  required  the  ablest  man  to  do. 
His  little  property  was  all  in  real  estate,  in  Lyons 
and  Rochester.  As  early  as  1829  he  was  strait- 
ened for  money.  His  oldest  daughter,  Caroline, 
was  married  to  Graham  H.  Chapin,  a  lawyer  orig- 
inally from  Salisbury,  Ct.,  and  settled  near  him 
in  Lyons,     His  next  daughter,  Clarissa,  for  whom 


178  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

his  pet  name  was  Tatty,  had  just  been  married  to 
Dr.  A.  L.  Beaumont,  and  was  settled  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Neither  of  these  gentlemen  seem  to  have 
favored  the  anti-masonic  side  of  the  great  and  bit- 
ter controversy.  Dr.  Beaumont,  who  was  in  easy 
circumstances,  offered  in  1829  to  loan  his  father- 
in-law  $1,000,  which  he  seems  to  have  much 
needed.  It  is  highly  characteristic  of  Mr.  Holley 
that  while  thanking  his  son-in-law  for  this  offer, 
he  says,  "I  answer  your  letter  with  a  pleasure, 
which  I  should  express  with  greater  energy  and 
more  in  detail,  were  it  not  that  in  consequence  of 
your  intention  to  oblige  me  with  the  loan  of 
$1,000,  such  expression  would  wear  a  little  too 
much  the  appearance  of  being  purchased  by  the 
loan.  Money  is  good,  for  the  important  uses  to 
which  it  may  be  applied,  in  all  the  debt  and  credit 
business  of  life  ;  and  honesty  requires  that  money 
obligations  should  always  be  justly  remembered 
and  faithfully  discharged."  He  then  proceeds  to 
detail  to  his  son-in-law  things  not  to  be  purchased, 
proposes  to  secure  the  loan  by  a  mortgage  on  his 
Rochester  land,  and  says,  "On  the  subject  of  those 
political  distinctions,  which  have  been  alluded  to 
in  our  correspondence,  though  my  convictions  are 
perfectly  decided,  and  my  conduct  will  correspond 


ANTI-MASONRY.  179 

with  them,  yet  they  contemplate  nothing  of  per- 
secution. They  appear  to  me  to  rest  upon  the 
imperious  necessity  of  defending  great  funda- 
mental principles  upon  the  preservation  of  which 
the  prosperity  of  all  depends.  And  I  earnestly 
hope  and  confidently  believe,  that  all  political 
array,  in  their  behalf,  will  soon  be  rendered  un- 
necessary, by  their  universal  adoption  and  prac- 
tical acknowledgment.  I  pray  for  this  daily,  for 
I  have  no  political  ambition,  and  have  objects 
other  than  political,  to  which  I  should  be  glad  to 
devote  myself  exclusively."  By  that  time  the 
masonic  fraternity  were  raising  throughout  the 
country  the  cry  of  '"persecution,"  and  "political 
ambition"  against  all,  whether  seceding1  masons 
or  outsiders,  who  were  striving  to  rescue  the 
country  from  their  almost  established  domination. 
And  they  found  powerful  support  in  this,  outside 
the  lodges.  Their  tactics  failed,  as  they  well 
deserved  to.  It  is  probably  true  that  Mr.  Hol- 
ley's  sons-in-law  lived  to  be  proud  of  the  course 
from  which  they  would  have  dissuaded  him.  His 
daughters  now  alive  must  surely  be  proud  of  it. 

After  this  letter  of  Dr.  Beaumont  came  the 
great  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
already  quoted  from. 


180  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

* 

One  effect  of  this  address  and  the  published 
proceedings  of  the  exceedingly  able  Philadelphia 
Convention  was  to  produce  a  sort  of  alliance,  or 
co-operation,  of  the  masonic  and  ecclesiastical 
influences  in  central  Xew  York.  Religious  re- 
vivals,  among  the  various  sects,  had  been  com- 
mon in  that  region"  from  the  first  settlement. 
Protracted  meetings  to  promote  them  had  become 
an  established  fashion  among  the  Baptists,  Con- 
gregationalists  and  Presbyterians,  as  well  as  the 
Methodists.  The  churches  and  the  lodges,  much 
as  they  seemed  to  differ,  had  one  thing  in  com- 
mon —  the  male  element  grasped  all  the  power. 
The  lodge  would  not  trust  a  woman  with  a  secret, 
the  church  would  not  allow  her  to  open  her  lips 
as  a  religious  teacher.  It  is  hard  to  tell  which 
held  her,  practically,  in  the  greatest  contempt. 
A  large  number  of  the  leading  preachers,  of  vari- 
ous sects,  were  free-masons,  and  by  no  means 
all  of  them  withdrew  on  the  exposure  of  the 
shameful  and  criminal  secrets.  On  the  contrary, 
without  admitting  there  was  anything  wrong  in 
the  mysterious  order,  they  applied  themselves 
more  sedulously  than  ever  to  the  cultivation  of 
fanatical  religion  and  the  upbuilding  of  the 
churches.     To  get  up  a  counter  popular  excite- 


ANTI-MASONRY.  181 

ment  was  the  best,  if  not  the  only,  means  of 
escaping  from  that  which  threatened  to  sweep 
the  very  name  of  freemasonry  from  the  ftice  of 
the  earth.  That  diversion  was  in  some  decree 
successful. 

Mr.  Hollev  wrote  his  first  letter  to  his  fourth 
daughter,  Sally,  or  Sallie,  as  she  herself  spells 
her  name,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  birthplace,  in  the 
winter  of  1830.  She  was  then  at  home  in  Lvons, 
and  young  enough  to  have  him  say  in  a  postscript 
at  the  end  of  a  long  letter,  "If  there  are  any 
words  in  this  letter  which  you  do  not  exactly 
understand,  get  a  dictionary  and  look  them  out, 
and  so  learn  and  remember  the  definitions  of 
them/' 

She   is   the    Sallie  Hollev,  who  since  the  anti- 

*.    J 

slavery  war,  has  been  so  well  known  as  one  of 
the  teachers  of  the  school  at  Lottsburgh,  Va.  In 
Jan.,  1831,  she  was  attending  the  boarding 
school  of  a  Miss  Thurston  in  Lvons.     Her  father 

Mi 

took  the  liveliest  interest  in  her  education,  both 
intellectual  and  moral,  as  if  conscious  of  the 
peculiar  importance  of  her  future  —  as  if  he 
foresaw  the  model  school  at  Lottsburgh. 

One  day  there  occurred  in  Miss  Thurston's 
school  a  scene  which  aroused  the  deepest  indig- 


182  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

nation  of  Mr.  Holley's  soul.  It  was  not  an  un- 
common occurrence  at  that  day,  and  is  doubtless 
in  some  places  repeated  in  our  day,  without  any 
reprobation  of  parents,  the  newspaper  press,  or 
the  secular  authorities.  The  revivalists  invaded 
the  schoolroom  —  but  Mr.  Holley  himself  shall 
state  the  facts.  They  are  here  copied  from  his 
eight-page  foolscap  letter,  closely  written,  to  Miss 
C.  Thurston,  dated  Lyons,  Jan.  31,  1831,  and 
containing  nearly  as  long  and  as  able  a  sermon  as 
ever  was  preached  on  religious  education. 

After  politely  disclaiming  any  intention  of  tres- 
passing on  "the  delicacy  clue  to  her  sex,"  Mr. 
Holley  thus  states  his  grievance  :  — 

"  My  daughter  informs  me  that  in  place  of  the  usual 
exercises,  at  your  school  on  Saturday  last,  the  whole 
time,  till  noon,  was  consumed  in  prayer  to  God,  and  in 
solemn  conversation  with  the  scholars,  in  respect  to 
their  hopes  of  eternal  salvation, — that  soon  after  the 
school  hour  arrived,  the  Hon.  David  Eddy,  of  a  remote 
town  in  this  county,  and  Mr.  Newell  Taft,  of  this  vil- 
lage, came  into  the  schoolroom  and  partook  with  3'our- 
self  and  one  of  your  larger  scholars  in  leading  these 
exercises,  —  that  in  addition  to  their  prayers  with  the 
interesting  family  of  3'onr  pupils,  one  or  both  of  these 
gentlemen  put  such  questions  and  made  such  quotations 
as  the  following  to  them,  one  by  one  :  '  Do  3'ou  think 
you  have  got  religion  ? '    '  Do  3*011  hope  to  be  saved  ? ' 


ANTI-MASONBY.  183 

•  Will  you  renounce  all  the  vanities  of  life,  the  idle 
talk,  the  amusements  and  pleasures,  of  this  world,  and 
love  Christ?'  'The  bible  says,  '-He  that  believeth 
shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned."'  —  that  the  effect  of  these  exercises  upon 
your  pupils  was,  to  produce  mirth  fear  and  many 
tears,  —  that  all  the  children  wept  a  great  deal  —  that 
one  little  girl,  when  sir?  was  questioned,  cried  out,  '  0, 
take  me  home,  I  want  to  go  home,' — that  when  you 
were  asked  by  one  of  your  pupils  if  she  should  not 
recite  her  lesson  in  philosophy,  you  put  the  question  to 
her,  whether  she  felt  more  concerned  about  her  philos- 
cphy.  than  she  did  about  the  salvation  of  her  soul?  — 
that  neither  she.  nor  any  other  of  your  pupils,  during 
the  whole  forenoon,  attended  at  all  to  their  usual  stud- 
ies and  reeitations  —  and  that,  before  the  school  was 
dismissed,  you  invited  them  all  to  attend  a  prayer-meet- 
ing the  same  afternoon. 

"This  account  is  only  a  specimen,  not  a  complete 
statement." 

Mr.  Holley,  it  is  to  be  understood,  while  reject- 
ino-  certain  theological  dogmas,  was  a  decided  the- 
ist  and  Christian,  in  a  moral  sense.  He  did  not 
object  to  prayer  —  wrote  prayers  for  his  chil- 
dren, and  prayed  himself  —  but  did  not  believe 
that  souls  could  be  saved  by  fear,  or  gloom  or 
asceticism.  He  objected  to  this  course  of  con- 
duct in  Miss  Thurston's  school  under  three  heads  : 

"1st.     Because  it  was  an  abuse  of  prayer. 


184  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

"2d.     Because  it  was  an  abuse  of  religion. 

< - 

"3d.  Because  it  was  an  immoral  infringement 
of  my  rights." 

Page  after  page  he  gives  sound  reasons  for 
these  positions — reasons  that  could  be  supported 
by  plenty  of  scripture  texts  —  but  which  could 
stand  firm  without  them.  What  is  more  to  the 
purpose  of  this  narrative,  is  his  disposal  of  the 
interference  of  Eddy  and  Taft,  and  it  pungently 
illustrates  exactly  what  the  various  religious 
bodies  of  to-day  are  doing  with  nearly  all  of 
the  secular  schools,  in  their  pretence  of  saving 
souls  : 

"  But  the  most  offensive  part  of  the  transactions  of 
Saturday,  to  which  I  object,  is  the  interference  of  Mr. 
Eddy  and  Mr.  Taft.  These  persons  interrupted  the 
proceedings  of  your  school,  in  a  manner  grossly  incon- 
sistent with  my  rights.  You  undertook  to  teach  my 
child  certain  branches  of  knowledge,  in  consideration 
of  which  I  undertook  to  pa}'  you  a  certain  sum  of 
mone}'.  While  you  were  engaged  fulfilling  your  under- 
taking, these  persons  came  in  and  altogether  arrested 
your  customary  instruction.  They  have  injured  me  in 
proportion  to  the  value  of  that  knowledge,  which  might 
have  been  acquired  during  the  interruption,  and  was 
prevented  from  being  acquired  by  it ;  and  in  proportion 
to  the  perversion  of  the  mind  and  feelings  of  1113'  child, 
arising  from  the  injurious  fears  and  pernicious  senti- 


ANTI-MASONRY.  185 

merits,  which  they  inculcated.  If  there  is  one  right 
connected  with  the  paternal  relation,  more  dear  than 
any,  or  than  all  others,  it  is  that  of  protecting  the  mind 
of  a  child  from  error  and  pollution.  So  dear,  in  this 
case,  is  that  right  of  mine,  which  has  been  invaded. 
If  these  men  came  to  3-our  school  and  arrested  the 
order  of  its  proceedings,  and  substituted  a  course  of 
their  own,  against  your  will,  you  can  obtain  a  just 
redress  by  resorting  to  the  laws ;  and  thus  protect 
yourself  from  similar  intrusions,  in  future.  If  they 
came,  and  conducted,  according  to  your  invitation  and 
request,  much  of  the  blame,  it  cannot  be  disguised,  at- 
taches to  you.  They  had  no  right  to  visit  your  school, 
except  by  your  invitation.  They  are  not  competent  to 
teach  children  the  branches  of  education,  in  which  you 
can  well  instruct  them,  and  they  are  men  of  bad  moral 
character.  If  }~ou  invited  them  there,  I  have  no  doubt, 
it  was  with  good  intentions,  though  I  think  it  was  very 
indiscreet  and  neither  has  produced,  nor  will  produce 
anything  but  mischief.  They  would  probably  pretend 
that  they  came  there  with  good  purposes.  But  I  have 
no  confidence  in  the  honesty  of  their  pretensions. 
Thouo-h  thev  both  pretend  to  be  christians,  thev  have 
taken  upon  themselves  obligations,  the  most  anti- 
christian,  unprincipled  and  infamous.  Publicly  pro- 
fessing subjection  to  that  authority  which  says,  c  Thou 
shaft  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain.' 
they  have  secretly,  in  a  state  of  indecent  nudity,  with  a 
rope  round  their  necks  and  a  bandage  over  their  eyes, 
kneeling  before  a  moek  altar,  laid  their  hands  upon  the 
open  bible,  with  a  square  and  compass  upon  it.  to  im- 
part additional  meaning  to  the  ceremony,  called  upon 


186  MYRON"   HOLLEY. 

God  to  witness,  that  they  always  would  '  hail,  ever  con- 
ceal, and  never  reveal  any  part  of  the  secrets  of  free- 
masomy,  which  they  had  received,  were  about  to 
receive,  or  might  thereafter  be  intrusted  with/  and  to 
the  full  performance  of  this  promise  the}'  pledged  their 
lives,  most  unlawfully  and  immorally,  to  be  taken,  in 
case  of  failure  in  the  performance.  I  know  3*011  have 
too  much  good  sense  and  real  piety,  madam,  not  to  be 
shocked  at  the  profanity  and  degradation  of  the  name 
of  God  and  the  bible  involved  in  such  a  transaction. 
You  can  also  justly  appreciate  the  crime,  worse  than 
self-murder,  committed  by  a  moral  agent,  who  volun- 
tarily foregoes  the  use  of  his  understanding,  in  relation 
to  the  bearing  of  a  proposition,  and  adopts  it,  when 
such  a  proposition  may  require  of  him  perjury,  murder, 
treason,  and  an}r  other  crime,  and  especially  if  he 
pledges  his  life,  without  any  mental  reservation,  equiv- 
ocation or  evasion  of  mind,  to  the  adopted  proposition, 
and  calls  God  to  witness  his  pledge.  These  are  but  a 
small  part,  and  not  the  most  profane  and  degrading,  of 
the  masonic  obligations,  which  have  been  taken  by  the 
men  in  question. 

"It  is  well  known  that  these  oaths  and  others  of 
an  equally  infamous  character,  have  actually  led  free- 
masons, of  as  good  repute  before,  as  either  Mr.  Eddy 
or  Mr.  Taft,  feloniously  to  steal  a  free  citizen,  and 
murder  him  ;  and  then  to  arra}*  themselves  against  the 
laws  of  the  land,  and  the  safet}*  of  the  state,  so  as 
effectually  to  prevent,  for  the  most  part,  their  judicial 
and  just  punishment.  Some  of  these  manstealers,  if 
not  the  murderers,  are  well  known  to  Mr.  Eddy  and 
Mr.  Taft,  whose  moral  characters  are  nevertheless  so 


ANTI-MASONRY.  187 

low,  that  they  have  not  yet  publicly  and  openly  re- 
nounced a  masonic  connection  with  them.  Can  men  be 
sincere  Christians,  and  come  out  and  renounce  the 
world,  and  teach  little  children  to  renounce  the  inno- 
cent amusements,  and  the  rational  pleasures  of  life,  who 
3'et  refuse  to  renounce  a  selfish  and  corrupt  association, 
which  they  know  retains  in  its  embrace  notorious  per- 
jurers and  convicted  kidnappers?  Such  men  are  not 
worthy  of  respect,  while  they  are  so  stupid  and  so 
wicked  as  to  live  in  sins  of  so  deep  a  dye,  as  are  im- 
plicated in  the  oaths  and  conduct  above  alluded  to, 
though  we  may  compassionate  their  blindness,  and  la- 
ment their  iniquity,  we  must  guard  ourselves  against 
the  contamination  of  their  society.  While  they  remain 
in  such  a  state,  Christian  charity  can  only  weep  over 
the  increasing  depths  of  guilt  into  which  they  plunge 
themselves  by  professing  a  tenderness  for  then*  own 
souls,  or  the  souls  of  others,  exhort  them  to  a  thorough 
application  of  the  most  searching  self-examination,  with 
a  view  to  the  most  mighty  efforts  of  which  the}'  ma}*  be 
capable  to  raise  themselves  from  the  horrible  pit  and 
miry  clay  into  which  they  are  fallen,  and  commend 
them  in  our  prayers  to  the  mercy  of  God. 

"  Having  thus  expressed  myself  with  decision  and 
plainness,  upon  what  I  consider  the  injury  I  have  re- 
ceived, and  the  impropriety  which  occurred  in  your 
school  on  Saturday,  permit  me  to  conclude  by  saying 
that  I  can  easily  forget  all  the  concern  you  have  had  in 
them ;  and  if  you  intend  to  conduct  your  school  here- 
after, with  the  same  attention  to  the  several  branches 
of  human  knowledge,  by  which  it  has  heretofore  been 
characterized,  and   without   drawing   into   it   religious 


188  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

fear,  or  gloom,  or  grief,  I  shall  cheerfully  continue  to 
send  my  daughter  to  you.  Wishing  you  eveiy  blessing 
in  this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come,  I  am  in  all  char- 
itjT  and  with  much  esteem, 

"Your  very  obedient, 

"Myron  Holley." 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  after  this  ex- 
perience of  the  affinity  between  the  masonic  and 
the  ecclesiastical  fraternity,  there  succeeded  four 
years  of  editorial  labor,  in  which  he  directed  his 
energies,  in  a  large  measure,  but  not  exclusively, 
against  the  masonic  institution  and  its  iniquitous 
oaths  as  the  most  vulnerable  point  of  the  allied 
forces  of  social  evil.  His  first  editorial  emrasre- 
ment  was  in  conducting  the  "Lyons  Country- 
man," commencing  on  the  3d  of  May,  1831.  The 
files  of  that  good-looking  weekly  periodical  testify 
to  the  fact  that  for  about  three  years  its  sub- 
scribers enjoyed  better  instruction  than  ordinarily 
comes  from  either  press  or  pulpit.  No  public  or 
domestic  interest  was  neglected.  The  dignity 
and  courtesy  with  which  he  treated  his  adver- 
saries were  as  conspicuous  as  his  overwhelming 
force  of  argument. 

In  his  salutatory  he  formally  stated  one  of  his 
objects   to    be  the   complete   overthrow  of   free- 


ANTI-MASONRY.  189 

masonry,  and  said  :  "  While  we  muster  in  that 
battle  all  the  forces  we  can  command,  we  shall  by 
no  means  forget  the  great  interests  in  behalf  of 
which  we  wage  it." 

In  this  opening  of  his  editorial  career,  in  1831, 
he  laid  down  principles  broad  enough  to  justify 
all  that  he  did  as  a  moral  and  political  agitator  in 
the  years  of  his  life  after  free-masonry  had  ceased 
to  excite  the  apprehensions  of  patriots.  He  says, 
and  he  grandly  lived  up  to  his  promises  :  :  TTe 
will  not,  knowingly,  cherish  any  illiberal  senti- 
ment, or  take  a  single  step,  under  the  influence  of 
a  persecuting  spirit.  There  is  not  a  human  being 
on  earth  to  whom  we  bear  ill-will.  There  are  no 
means  of  real  good  that  we  shall  designingly  op- 
pose. We  intend  on  all  occasions  which  bring 
them  into  question,  to  advocate  the  interests  of 
truth,  of  justice,  of  freedom,  of  knowledge,  and 
of  benevolence  ;  because  we  are  thoroughly  per- 
suaded that  these  are  our  own  personal  interests, 
and  the  interests  of  all  others,  and  that  they  are 
the  indispensable  means  of  all  genuine  social  and 
individual  advancement." 

"  We  set  up  no  claim  to  extraordinary  exemp- 
tion from  errors  of  opinion,  or  mistakes  of  fact, 
or  prejudices   of  mind.     But.  we  will  strive  earn.- 


190  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

estly  to  divest  ourselves  of  these,  and  we  promise, 
in  no  case,  to  pursue  a  purpose  after  we  shall 
learn  that  it  has  no  better  foundation  than  these 
to  rest  upon.  Feeling  ourselves  connected  with 
all  human  beings  by  strong  and  durable  sympa- 
thies, and  rejoicing  in  the  connection  with  all  our 
soul,  we  mean  to  contend  faithfully,  in  our  lit- 
tle sphere,  for  human  improvement.  AYe  are 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  race  to  which  we 
belong  can  never  be  improved  by  inequality  of 
conventional  privileges,  by  distinction  of  ranks, 
by  hereditary  transmission  of  authority,  or  by  any 
factitious  and  lasting  separation  of  individuals 
from  the  common  lot.  Every  institution,  there- 
fore, which  embodies  such  inequality,  distinction, 
transmission,  or  separation,  we  most  decidedly 
reprobate,  and  will  labor  to  overthrow.  In  these 
labors  may  we  not  expect  the  concurrence  of  all 
our  free  fellow-citizens  ?  " 

A  man  fighting  free-masonry  on  these  principles 
must  have  been  an  immediate  abolitionist,  whether 
he  was  conscious  of  it  or  not.  The  question  had 
only  need  to  come  up  to  have  him  side  with  the 
friends  of  the  largest  liberty.  He  stood  by  labor 
and  the  laborer,  whether  employed  in  agriculture 
or  the  useful  arts.     He   stood   by  literature  and 


ANTI-MASONEY.  191 

science;  by  education,  high  and  low,  "solid,  ex- 
tensive, and  universal."  "  Feeling  ourselves,"  he 
writes,  "  impelled  by  patriotism,  by  philanthropy, 
by  a  proud  remembrance  of  the  immortal  asserters 
of  our  freedom,  and  by  our  farthest-reaching  hopes, 
to  the  o'rateful  labor  we  shall,  with  zeal  and  con- 
stancv,  bestow  our  best  efforts  in  behalf  of  such 
an  education." 

This  newspaper  was  not  a  paying  concern,  and 
as  the  two  leading  political  parties  were  interested 
to  crush  out  the  rising  third  party,  and  the  mas- 
sonic  fraternity,  so  deeply  rooted,  was  seconding 
their  efforts  by  the  cry  of  "persecution,"  and  by 
the  parade  of  being  exceedingly  good  and  zealous 
Christians,  it  was  by  no  means  wonderful  that  Mr. 
Holley's  editorial  labors  exhausted  his  pecuniary 
resources.  In  1833  his  anti-masonic  friends,  of 
his  own  Assembly  district,  nominated  him  for 
their  candidate  to  the  Assembly.  The  politicians, 
and  especially  those  of  the  dominant  "democratic" 
party,  were  intensely  frightened.  To  let  a  man  of 
his  power  of  pen,  and  still  more  of  voice,  with  his 
grand  integrity,  into  the  Assembly,  might  revolu- 
tionize the  Empire  State.  If  he  were  let  alone 
there  was  almost  a  certainty  of  his  election. 
Hence  a  grand  battery  of  the  basest  calumny  ever 


192  MYRON    HOLLET. 

known  in  our  political  history  was  trained  and 
opened  upon  him, — and  of  course,  near  enough 
to  the  election  day  to  prevent  his  reply  from 
taking  much  effect.  The  party  organs  raised  the 
old  cry  of  "defaulter,"  which  the  legislative  jour- 
nals and  statute-book  had  silenced  live  years  be- 
fore, and  laid  the  calumny  in  large  print  and  with 
every  semblance  of  proof  before  every  voter  of 
the  district.  All  that  Mr.  Holley  could  do  was  to 
prepare  a  reply  in  the  form  of  a  broadsheet  to  be 
posted  on  election  day.  The  antidote  would  pro- 
bably have  conquered  the  poison  if  it  had  been 
administered  in  season.  But  at  the  top  of  society 
corruption  had  been  going  on  —  such  as  high  poli- 
ticians know  too  well  how  to  practice  —  long  be- 
fore the  stink-pots  of  calumny  were  thrown.  To 
this  it  was  due  that  some  of  Mr.  Holley's  trusted 
friends,  and  even  family  connections,  sided  with  his 
enemies  on  this  trying  occasion.  But  the  grand 
pioneer  of  labor,  civil  and  religious  liberty,  jus- 
tice and  humanity,  did  not  wilt.  His  "  poster " 
for  election  day  deserves  to  go  down  to  posterity 
to  the  latest  generation,  and  I  believe  it  will,  for 
the  encouragement  of  all  champions  of  the  right 
and  honest  voters  against  political  chicanery. 


ANTI-MASONBY..  193 

One  printed  original,  at  least,  of  this  interesting 
document  was  preserved  by  Henry  O'Reilly,  Esq., 
of  Rochester,  a  pioneer  in  the  great  telegraph 
industry,  with  a  view  of  placing  it  in  the  archives 
of  the  Xew  York  Historical  Society.  "While  it 
was  in  his  hands  the  following  exact  copy  was 
made  for  this  memoir  :  — 

DO   ME    JUSTICE  !    ! 

I  ask  no  man  to  support  my  nomination 
against  his  conviction  of  duty.  The  sense 
of  duty  is  the  most  precious  bestowment  of 
the  Creator  upon  our  rational  nature.  Let 
it  never  be  violated.  But  I  ask  to  be  pro- 
tected from  persecution  —  to  be  treated  by 
my  honest  fellow-citizens  of  all  parties  ac- 
cording to  the  great  rule  of  social  justice. 
And  I  ask  no  more.  The  last  *  Western 
Argus,"  in  a  postscript,  accuses  me  of  be- 
ing a  defaulter,  and  of  defrauding  the  state 
out  of  about  830,000;  and  heaps  upon  me 
a  multitude  of  defamatory  epithets,  which, 
if  they  are  truly  applied,  ought  to  deprive  me 
of  all  favor  from  the  community.  Are  these 
accusations  and  epithets  truly  applied? 

In  1828  mv  accounts  with  the  state  were 


194  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

finally  adjusted  by  the  following  act,  entitled 
"An  act  for  settling  the  claims  of  Myron 
Holley,  late  Canal  Commissioner,  passed 
21st  March,  1828  : 

"  The  people  of  the  State  of  ~New  York, 
represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do 
enact  as  follows  :  that  the  Commissioners 
of  the  Canal  fund  be  directed  to  release  to 
Myron  Holley,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  all 
the  interest  derived  to  the  State  from  the 
deed  bearing  date  the  8th  Deer.,  1825,  and 
executed  by  Myron  Holley,  ¥m.  H.  Adams, 
John  M.  Holley,  Mindwell  P.  Granger, 
Francis  Granger,  and  John  A.  Granger  ; 
and  to  assign  to  the  said  Myron  Holley  all 
the  securities  taken,  and  to  pay  to  him  all 
the  monies  received  on  the  sale  of  such 
parts  of  the  estate  conveyed  by  said  deed 
to  the  said  commissioners,  as  shall  have  been 
sold  :  Provided  the  same  shall  be  received 
by  the  said  Myron  Holley  in  full  satisfaction 
and  discharge  of  all  his  claims  and  demands 
against  the  State." 

Previous  to  the  passage  of  this  Act  the 
commissioners  of  the  canal   fund   had    re- 


ANTI-MASONRY.  195 

quired  of  me  the  surrender  to  the  state  of 
all  my  property,  real  and  personal,  including 
in  their  rigor  even  the  wearing  apparel  of 
my  wife  and  children.  I  had  complied  with 
this  requisition  to  the  minutest  particular, 
and  the  persons  named  in  the  act.  being,  as 
bail  or  otherwise,  interested  in  the  real  pro- 
perty, had  joined  me  in  conveying  it.  After 
the  conveyance  the  commissioners  of  the 
canal  fund  had  sold  some  of  the  property  and 
received  payments  and  securities  thereon, 
and  the  legislature  itself  had  restored  to  me 
all  my  personal  property.  My  bail  were  well 
known  to  be  abundantly  responsible  for  any 
deficiency  in  my  means  of  accounting  to  the 
state,  and  the  property  conveyed  was  of 
considerable  value.  The  state  had  given  me 
the  appointment  of  canal  commissioner.  It 
had  the  highest  authority  and  the  amplest 
means  to  investigate  and  decide  upon  my 
conduct  under  that  appointment  ;  and  with 
full  means  in  its  possession,  to  enforce  all 
the  claims  of  justice  against  me,  it  did  in- 
vestigate and  decide  upon  it  ;  and  by  the 
law  above  recited,  it  solemnly  declared  that 


196  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

I  was  not  a  defaulter  in  a  single  cent,  and 
ordered,  as  you  will  see,  the  complete  and 
immediate  restoration  of  my  property.  In 
my  claims  upon  the  state,  an  humble  indivi- 
dual, opj)osed,  slandered,  and  persecuted  by 
some  leading  politicians  in  every  legislature 
for  four  years,  I  stood,  without  wealth,  with- 
out the  sympathetic  favor  of  influential  poli- 
tical associates,  without  any  means  of 
success,  but  such  as  clear  justice  and  the 
public  character  of  the  state  afforded  me, 
and  my  rights  prevailed.  Was  this  a  crime? 
Did  this  success  show  that  I  was  a  default- 
er?    Did  I  defraud  the  State? 

In  the  Senate  my  bill  passed  by  a  majority 
of  20  vs.  4,  including  in  the  affirmative 
the  names  of  Benton,  Dagan,  Enos,  Oliver, 
Stebbins,  Todd,  Throop,  and  several  others 
belonging  to  the  political  majority  of  that 
body  ;  in  the  Assembly  it  passed  by  a  maj- 
ority of  69  vs.  31,  including  in  the  affirma- 
tive the  names  of  Armstrong,  Brinkerhoff, 
Butler,  Emmet,  Hoffman,  Livingston,  Mon- 
nell,  Paige,  Tallmadge,  Westcott,  and  many 
others  belonging  to  the  political  majority  of 


ANTI-MASOXRY.  197 

that  body,  and  now  most  high  in  favor  with 
my  political  adversaries.  If  I  defrauded  the 
state  it  must  have  been  with  the  concur- 
rence of  these  men!  The  charge  is  false. 
Reflect  upon  it  a  moment  and  you  will  see  it 
is.  It  is  uttered  in  the  madness  of  mere 
party  denunciation-  And  by  whom  is  it  ut- 
tered? By  Chapin  and  Chapman,  each  of 
whom  has,  before  his  criminal  support  of 
free-masonry  had  been  required,  solemnly, 
under  Ms  hand,  asserted  his  belief  in  my 
integrity,  in  reference  to  my  whole  conduct 
as  canal  commissioner,  and,  by  petitioning  the 
legislature  in  favor  of  an  act  like  that  above 
recited,  become  a  party  to  the  fraud ! !  Delib- 
erate inconsistencies  always  betray  guilt. 

'The  extracts  in  the  r '  Argus  "  are  garbled, 
and  all,  when  corrected,  admit  of  easv  ex- 
planation;  but  it  would  be  too  long  to 
explain  them  all  now.  In  the  last  report 
made  by  the  legislature,  respecting  my 
claims,  the  very  able  chairman  of  the  com- 

%J 

mittee  from  whom  it  came,  Mr.  Paige,  of 
Schenectady,  then  and  now  a  decided  friend 
of  Gen.  Jackson  and  Mr.  Tan  Buren,  says  : 


198  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

;  The  claim  of  Mr.  Holley  has  already  un- 
dergone the  examination  of  committees  of 
several  legislatures.  Those  committees  have 
uniformly  decided  in  favor  of  its  validity 
and  justice"  "  The  committee  feel  them- 
selves constrained  to  conclude  that  the  claim 
of  Mr.  Holley  is  founded  in  justice,  and  is 
either  a  legal  or  an  equitable  demand  against 
the  state." 

*  Although  the  committee  have  unani- 
mously come  to  the  above  conclusions,  yet 
some  of  its  members  conceive  that  the  bill 
referred  to  them  ought  to  contain  a  provi- 
sion requiring  that  the  release  of  the  prop- 
erty therein  referred  to,  to  Mr.  Holley, 
should  be  accepted  by  him  in  full  satisfac- 
tion of  all  claims  upon  the  state,  so  as  fully, 
upon  its  face,  to  express  that  it  provides  for 
the  payment  of  a  demand  due  him  by  the 
state."  The  bill,  upon  this  last  suggestion, 
was  amended  by  the  addition  of  the  proviso 
which  it  contains.  This  report  is  found  in 
Assembly  Journal  of  1828,  page  744,  &c. 
]STow,  I  ask  all  men,  who  are  not  the  slaves 
of  party,  and  who  do  not  mean  to  persecute. 


ANTI-MASONRY.  199 

whether  in  executing  duties  so  arduous  and 
responsible,  —  when  labors,  and  hazards, 
and  perplexities  were  so  continually  press- 
ing upon  me  for  more  than  seven  years,  and 
when,  with  untiring  vigilance  and  great  abil- 
ities against  me,  and  nothing  but  the  sense 
of  justice  on  my  side,  with  the  acknowl- 
edged importance  of  my  services,  the  pas- 
sage of  such  a  law  as  the  one  above,  in 
favor  of  my  claims,  by  the  highest  tribunal 
in  the  state,  was  effected,  —  I  ought  not  to 
have  for  my  family  peace  and  exemption 
from  interested  and  malignant  aspersions? 
To  the  free  voters  of  the  land  it  belongs  to 
suppress  persecution  in  the  last  resort,  and 
they  alone  can  effectually  point  the  dagger 
which  the  interested  and  base  have  drawn 
upon  me.  Before  such  voters  drive  it  home 
to  the  mark  at  which  it  is  aimed,  they  will 
consider, — whether  they  can  justly  impeach 
my  character  for  truth  and  honesty  in  my 
dealings  with  any  man?  whether  they  can 
charge  me,  on  any  occasion,  with  a  want  of 
public  spirit ?  whether  my  drawing  up  two- 
thirds  of  all  the  official  documents  proceed- 


200  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

ing  from  the  canal  commissioners  for  above 
seven  years,  while  I  was  a  member  of  that 
body,  was  an  evidence  of  zeal  for  their  in- 
terests? whether  my  letter  to  the  commit- 
tee of  the  Assembly,  in  1820,  signed  by 
three  commissioners  only,  and  opposed  by 
the  other  two,  but  which  caused  the  con- 
struction of  the  canal  west  of  the  Seneca 
River,  simultaneously  with  the  eastern  sec- 
tion, was  useful  towards  the  speedy  comple- 
tion of  a  work  which  has  raised  the  value 
of  all  their  lands  and  multiplied  their  means 
of  an  honorable  livelihood?  —  whether,  fin- 
ally, the  resolute  assertion  of  the  rights  of 
the  people  and  the  supremacy  of  the  law, 
to  which  I  have  devoted  myself  since  the 
murder  of  Morgan,  has  proceeded  from  dis- 
interested rectitude  of  purpose,  and  been  in 
conformity  with  the  true  principles  of  equal 
rights?  And  upon  such  consideration  I 
calmly  repose  the  issue  of  the  nomination 
with  which  I  have  been  honored. 

Myron  Holley. 

,     Nov.  2,  1833. 

The  documents  Mr.    Holley  here  refers  to,  in 


ANTI-MASONKT.  201 

self-defence,  incontestibly  prove  not  only  that  he 
was  never  a  w  defaulter,"  but  that  the  State  of 
New  York,  when  he  retired  from  the  office  of 
Canal  Commissioner,  in  plain  equity,  owed  him  a 
large  sum.  It  still  owes  it,  with  interest,  to  his 
heirs.  This  rests  on  the  testimony  of  the  most 
al)le  and  intelligent  of  his  political  opponents. 

As  to  the  veritable  fate  of  William  Morgan, 
which  proved  so  much  dynamite  to  Free  Masonry, 
I  interviewed  the  venerable  Thurlow  AVeed,  at 
his  quiet  home  in  Xew  York,  and  obtained  the 
following  information  : 

Thurlow  "Weed  was  sued  for  libel,  damages  $10,000, 

for   charging  with   paying  money   to  Whitney 

and  others,  abductors  of  Morgan,  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  evade  justice.  He  expected  to  prove  the  truth 
of  his  statement  by  W^hitney  himself,  who  had  returned 
from  his  flight,  and  was  ready  to  testify  for  the  benefit 
of  Weed.  But  the  prosecution  claimed  that  the  defence 
could  not  produce  testimony  to  the  fact  of  the  pa}'ment 
of  mone}'  to  the  witness  without  first  proving  that  the 
libellee  knew  that  the  witness  was  guilty  and  was  fleeing 
from  justice,  and  with  the  intention  of  aiding  his  escape, 
and  on  this  plea  Weed's  witnesses  were  all  ruled  out 
and  the  verdict  was  against  him  to  the  extent  of  $400  ! 
Afterwards  Mr.  Weed  invited  to  lunch  with  him  this 
same  Whitney  and  a  friend  of  his  who  was  also  a  friend 
of  Weed.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  Whitne3*'s 
friend  urged  Whitney  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  all  he 


202  MYRON    HOLLF.Y. 


knew  about  Morgan's  abduction.  To  this  Whitney  as- 
sented, saying  that  he  had  long  thought  of  it,  and  could 
have  no  peace  without  it.  He  could  not  hear  a  blind 
rattle  at  niffht  without  dread  of  the  sheriff.  He  then 
proceeded  to  say  that  he,  with  two  other  men,  took 
Morgan  from  Fort  Niagara,  bound  around  the  body 
with  a  rope,  to  the  two  ends  of  which  weights  were  at- 
tached, and  1  laving  conveyed  him  down  the  river  in  a 
boat  till  they  reached  the  deep  water  of  the  lake,  threw 
him  overboard  !  "  Now  Weed  can  hang  3*011,"  said  his 
friend,  to  Whitney.     "  But  he  won't,"  said  Whitne}*. 

Mr.  Weed  did  not  meet  Whitnev  again  till  he  at- 
tended  the  Republican  Convention  in  Chicago  which 
nominated  Lincoln.  Just  on  the  eve  of  the  convention 
the  two  met,  and  Whitney  expressed  a  wish  to  have 
Weed  take  down  his  confession  in  writing,  to  be  pub- 
lished after  his  death,  saving  he  had  not  long  to  live. 
But  Mr.  Weed,  being  exceedingly  busy,  put  him  off  till 
after  the  adjournment.  But  he  was  so  much  disap- 
pointed that  the  convention  preferred  Lincoln  to  Sew- 
ard, that  he  resolved  not  to  wait  for  the  adjournment, 
and  set  out  immediately  to  take  the  earliest  train  home- 
ward. On  his  way  to  the  cars  Whitnev  met  him  again 
and  urged  his  purpose  of  confession,  but  Mr.  Weed  ex- 
cused himself  on  the  ground  that  he  should  lose  his 
train.  After  his  return  Mr.  Weed  addressed  a  letter  to 
Whitney,  at  Chicago,  on  the  subject,  in  favor  of  com- 
plying with  his  wishes.  No  answer  came,  but  the  let- 
ter was  returned  through  the  dead  letter  office,  for 
Whitne}'  himself  was  dead. 

See  Gould  vs.  Weed,  12  Wendell's  N.  Y.  Ee- 
ports,  to  fill  the  blank  on  the  previous  page. 


RESIDENCE    IN    HARTFORD.  203 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

RESIDENCE    IN    HARTFORD. 

Though  Myron  Holley  had  won  by  far  the  most 
honorable  place  in  both  the  canal  history  and  the 
anti-masonic  history  of  New  York,  he  was  the  vic- 
tim of  this  cruel  calumny,  launched  against  him 
by  the  faction  which  was  then  governing  the  state 
in  the  interest  of  the  slave-power,  aided  by  that 
which  was  ambitious  to  take  its  place.  But  he  by 
no  means  lost  caste  with  the  best  and  wisest  men 
anywhere.  The  anti-masons  of  Connecticut, 
his  native  state,  were  about  to  establish  a  weekly 
paper  as  the  organ  of  their  cause,  called  the 
"'Free  Elector,"  and  they  engaged  htm  to  edit  it  — 
at  a  moderate  salary,  no  doubt,  though  what  it 
was  does  not  appear  —  for  the  term  of  one  year  at 
least.  Averse  as  he  was  to  leaving  home,  his 
debts  obliged  him  to  accept  the  offer,  and  for  the 
next  year,  1834,  he  resided  in  Hartford. 

His  long"  letters  to  the  members  of  his  laro'e 
family  let  us   into  the  heart  and  character  of  the 


204  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

man.  Those  of  that  year  would  fill  a  volume  as 
larsre  as  this.      Some  extracts  must  suffice. 

o 

Hartford,  26th  January,  1834. 

My  dear  Sally,  —  Since  I  left  home  my  most  pre- 
vailing affections  and  anxious  thoughts  have  been  with 
yon,  and  all  the  other  precious  tenants  of  nry  heart's 
love  at  Lyons.  Yon  have  had  my  daily  prayers,  ray 
best  wishes,  my  most  interesting  recollections,  and  m}' 
most  cherished  hopes.  There  is  nothing,  in  the  past, 
upon  which  I  dwell  with  more  satisfaction,  than  those 
occasions,  in  the  evening  and  on  the  Sabbath,  when  I 
have  sat  listening  to  you  when  engaged  in  reading  from 
the  hoh'  repository  of  that,  wisdom  which  cometh  from 

above Never  admit  the  thought,  my 

dear  daughter,  into  your  heart,  that  speculation,  or 
mere  mental  conviction  and  emotion,  under  any  name, 
however  plausible  and  honored,  will  be  sufficient.  Prac- 
tical duty  is  the  only  legitimate  end  of  all  speculation, 
conviction  and  feeling,  and  without  this,  grace,  faith, 
and  every  other  name  to  live  are  empty  sounds  ;  ivith 
this,  and  tending  to  this,  the}'  are  the  very  gates  of 
heaven,  the  bright  livery  of  the  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect. 

Before  I  came  here  you  told  me  I  should  see  Mrs. 
Sigourney.  You  were  a  true  prophet.  A  few  evenings 
ago  Mrs.  Willard,  of  Troy,  was  in  this  cit}',  as  I  learnt 
by  receiving  an  invitation  to  take  tea  in  her  company. 
The  invitation  was  brought  by  a  bookseller  here,  a  Mr. 
Huntington,  who  is  highly  respectable,  and  treated  me 
with  great  politeness.  Mrs.  Willard  wras  at  his  house. 
At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  after  a  busy  day  with 
me,   I  went  to  comply   with  my  invitation,  and  soon 


RESIDENCE    IX    HARTFORD.  205 

found  myself  in  very  intelligent  and  agreeable  company. 
The  circle  was  small  but  social,  characterized  full  as 
much  by  cordiality  as  by  ceremony,  though  nothing  of 
either  was  wanting  which  good  breeding  enjoins.  Be- 
sides Mrs.  Willard  and  Mrs.  Siffounicv  and  Mrs.  Hunt- 
ington.  there  were  the  sister  of  the  latter,  Mrs.  Phillips » 
and  two  other  ladies  whose  names  I  did  not  learn,  and 
there  were  also,  besides  Mr.  Huntington,  his  brother, 
Doctor  Lee,  Mr.  Sigourney,  and  a  young  gentleman. 

The  subjects  of  conversation  were  chiefly 
the  exertions  making  by  the  ladies  to  sustain  a  school 
for  females  in  Greece.  For  this  object  Mrs.  Willard 
said  more  than  two  thousand  dollars  had  been  raised, 
the  school  is  established,  and  in  it  young  women  are 
learning  to  become  teachers,  at  the  cost  of  the  contri- 
butors to  the  school  fund,  who,  after  the}'  are  suffici- 
ently educated,  if  they  can  get  employment  as  teachers 
at  a  certain  rate  of  wages  in  Greece,  are  to  pay  back 
annually  to  the  school  fund  a  certain  sum.  Mrs.  Wil- 
lard's  book  of  travels  is  selling  off,  and  the  avails  of  it, 
beyond  remuneration  for  the  expense  of  publication, 
will  go  to  enlarge  this  fund.  Other  subjects  of  conver- 
sation were,  somnambulism,  Swedenborgianism,  phren- 
ology, with  a  small  spice  of  politics,  and  such  other 
topics  as  were  less  weight}*  and  not  improper.  All  the 
ladies  at  the  little  soiree  were  very  neat  in  their  dress, 
and  showed  great  deference  to  each  other,  without  any 
interrupting  eagerness  to  put  in  a  word  here  and  there 
to  mend  each  other's  conversation,  or  exhibit  their  own 
superior  accuracy  of  recollection,  or  facility  of  inven- 
tion. In  all  these  respects  their  example  is  worthy  of 
imitation.  Love  me,  remember  me,  and  write  to  me. 
Good-by,  my  dear.  Myron  Hollet. 


206  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

Hartford,  6th  Feb.,  1334. 
My  dear  Robert,  —  In  a  letter  which  I  received  a 
few  days  ago  from  3'our  mother,  she  informed  me  that 
3"ou  had  started  for  Albany,  and  I  address  yon  this  line 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  yon  are  in  that 
city  or  not.  I  feel  towards  yon  an  irrepressible  and 
immortal  sympathy,  which  will  be  greatly  lacerated  if 
I  do  not  occasionally  hear  from  3*011,  and  hear  that  yon 
are  well.  Your  faculties  and  your  accomplishments  for 
business  are  such  as  make  me  happy  to  think  upon,  and 
it  would  give  me  the  truest  gratification  to  aid  you,  in 
every  way  in  my  power,  to  get  into  business,  reputable 
and  profitable.  Is  there  anything  I  can  do  for  you  in 
Albany?  I  know  many  gentlemen  there,  and  am  re- 
spected by  a  considerable  number.  *  If  nvy  writing  to 
them  in  }7our  behalf  would  be  of  use  to  3*011,  let  me 
know  it,  and  letters  shall  be  immediately  forwarded. 
M3'  situation  here  is  very  comfortable,  and  I  am  getting 
into  respect  rapidly,  because  I  keep  myself  engaged  in 
my  proper  employment,  and  run  into  no  idle,  expensive, 
or  profligate  associations.  My  life,  as  3*011  know,  has 
not  been  unassailed  I33'  malice  and  persecution.  The 
consciousness  of  1113'  integrhy,  and  the  general  praise- 
worthiness  of  my  pursuits,  and  the  hopes  I  cherish, 
have  raised  me  above  all  the  mischiefs  of  those  evils. 

*  Thurlow  Weed,  in  his  reminiscences  of  stage-travelling, 
before  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  says  :  "  It  was  an 
unusual  circumstance  to  find  a  stage-coach  with  fair  weather 
and  good  roads,  between  Rochester  and  Albany,  that  was  not 
enlivened  by  conversation,  for  there  were  almost  always  two 
or  three  intellectual  passengers.  Myron  Ilolley,  for  example, 
with  a  gifted  and  highly-cultivated  mind,  had  committed  to 
memory,  and  would  recite  by  the  hour,  gems  from  the  British 
,  poets." 


RESIDENCE    IX    HARTFORD.  207 

If  life  ends  with  the  dissolution  of  the  body,  the  course 
of  innocence,  integrity,  and  kindness  to  others,  is  the 
only  way  of  enjoying  it.  But,  my  son,  I  have  no  doubt 
that  our  spirits  are  immortal,  and  that  immortality  may 
be  infinitely  blessed  by  the  sturdy  practical  exhibition 
of  these  qualities,  and  immortality  would  be  wretched 
without  it.  Pray  let  me  hear  from  you  soon,  and  often, 
and  from  your  heart. 

Most  affectionately  yours, 

Myron  Holley. 

Mr.  Holley,  from  first  to  last,  believed,  or  rather 
undoubtingly  took  for  granted  the  personal  gov- 
eminent  of  the  universe  by  a  supreme  intellect, 
the  existence  of  the  human  intellect  after  death, 
progressively  and  perpetually,  and  in  the  can- 
onized Bible  as  a  revelation  of  God's  nature  and 
will,  without  ever  appearing-  to  explain  to  himself 
or  others  how  these  beliefs  were  consistent  with 
adverse  phenomena  or  facts  testified  to  by  our 
senses,  or  how  the  Bible  is  any  more,  or  bet- 
ter a  revelation  than  all  other  literature.  Practi- 
cally, however,  he  seems  to  have  derived  the 
divinest  wisdom  from  all  sorts  of  literature,  and 
to  have  regarded  nature  itself  as  a  revelation. 
His  detestation  of  the  masonic  institution  did  not 
in  the  slightest  degree  alienate  his  affections  from 
the  families  of  his  daughters,   the  male  heads  of 


208  MYKOX    HOLLEY. 

two  of  which  had  taken  sides  in  its  defence  asrainst 
him.  To  an  impartial  observer  it  would  seem  that 
the  divinity  was  in  him,  rather  than  personally 
outside  of  him,  and  that  while  the  abstract  prin- 
ciples of  love  and  justice  so  ruled  his  own  heart 
and  life,  there  was  no  need  of  his  belief  in  the 
over-ruling  personality  assumed  by  the  popular 
creeds,  and  that  it  was  of  no  consequence  whether 
personalities  exist  outside  of  matter  or  not,  he  so 
deeply  reverenced  the  personality  and  personalities 
inside  of  it.  His  conception  of  God  seems  prac- 
tically not  to  have  differed  from  that  of  an  abstract 
verity.  It  Avas  a  comfort  to  him  to  personify  it. 
He  never  lifted  a  finder  nor  uttered  a  word  to 
compel  any  other  person  to  do  the  same. 

He  had  twelve  children,  all  but  two  of  whom 
were  born  in  Canandaigua.  They  had  different 
qualities  and  dispositions,  but  he  treated  them  all 
with  equal  affection.  His  discipline  was  nothing 
but  persuasion  and  kindness.  In  the  folloAving 
letter  to  his  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Chapin,  he 
touchingly  communicates  the  wisdom  of  a  kind 
father,  derived  from  large  experience  : 

Hartford,  23rd  August,  1834. 

My  dear  Daughter,  —  Not  long  ago  I  received  a 
very    interesting   letter  from  yon,   and  more   recently 


RESIDENCE    IX    HARTFORD.  209 

Elizabeth  has  informed  me  that  3'our  health  is  not  good  ; 
that  3-011  are  feeble  so  as  to  be  able  to  do  little  more 
then  walk  about  the  house.  I  hope  you  are  perfectly 
restored  before  this,  and  that  you  will  not  fail  to  take 
all  needful  care  of  yourself.  Your  situation  is  one  of 
great  importance,  involving  necessarily  much  solicitude 
and  many  duties.  I  pray  that  you  may  have  health,  to 
meet  them  and  discharge  them,  in  full  accordance  with 
your  own  pure  wishes.  Habitual  prudence,  cheerful- 
ness and  hope,  are  very  requisite  to  you  ;  and  I  expect 
3*011  to  cherish  them  continually.  With  them,  there  is 
no  situation  in  life,  in  which  a  woman  can  be  placed, 
more  truly  dignified,  useful,  or  interesting,  than  yours. 
God  surrounds  us  with  objects  of  affection  and  care,  to 
call  forth  our  highest  powers  of  mind  and  heart.  And 
when  they  are  called  forth  worthilv,  as  they  always  are 
in  the  judicious  bringing  up  and  education  of  a  little 
flock  of  the  immortal  birds  of  Paradise,  the}'  will  ensure 
the  most  substantial  and  permanent  enjoyment  that 
human  beings  have  any  right  to  aspire  to.  The  tender 
relations  of  parent  and  child  are  prominently  and  often 
referred  to  in  the  scriptures  to  illustrate  and  impress 
upon  us  the  ever-wakeful  and  intense  benevolence  of 
our  Maker  towards  all  the  beings  he  has  made.  And 
human  life  affords  no  means  so  effectual  as  these  rela- 
tions are,  to  draw  out  our  spirits  from  the  cold  degrada- 
tion of  mere  selfishness,  to  the  delightful  exercises  of 
that  disinterested  love  which  is  destined  to  supply  our 
motives  to  virtuous  action  more  and  more  forever.  Let 
not  the  cares,  then,  of  your  numerous  family,  oppress 
your  spirits  on  the  one  hand,  nor  stimulate  you  to  such 
exertions  of  labor  and  fatigue  on  the  other,  as  mav  im- 
pair  your   constitution.      Calmness,    self-government, 


210  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

and  consistency,  always  obeying  the  law  of  love  in  tak- 
ing charge  of  children,  will  be  the  best  means  of  ren- 
dering them  obedient  and  docile.  And  when  the}'  have 
their  perfect  work,  the}'  secure  us  such  rewards  as  can 
no  where  else  be  reaped  —  the  rewards  of  a  conscien- 
tious and  kind  performance  of  the  most*essential  duties, 
and  those  of  seeing  the  objects  of  our  efforts  and  affec- 
tions continually  enlarging  their  qualifications  for  use- 
fulness, respectability,  and  enjoyment.  In  the  allot- 
ments of  life  this  is  generally  true,  though  not  always. 
There  are  exceptions.  The  most  virtuous  parents  may 
sometimes  suffer  the  unhappiness  of  seeing  their  children 
do  ill.  I  pray  that  this  suffering  may  never  fall  to  you, 
and  think  your  hope  of  escaping  it  is  as  well  founded 
as  that  of  any  mother  of  so  large  a  family.  But  I  have 
no  doubt  that  suffering;  in  life  is  designed,  by  our  Infin- 
ite  Governor,  as  much  for  our  good  as  enjoyment  is. 
By  sufferings  we  become  more  tender,  ^more  patient, 
more  resigned,  more  sensible  of  the  presence  of  our 
Heavenly  Father,  than  we  should  otherwise  be  ;  and 
these  qualities  are  absolutely  essential  to  our  highest  ex- 
altation. To  be  sure,  to  produce  these  effects,  we  must 
suppose  the  suffering  to  be  disciplinary  and  limited. 
And  so  in  my  view  will  all  suffering  prove  to  be.  With- 
out suffering  we  should  manifestly  be  less  capable  of 
enjoyment.  With  it,  believing  undoubtingly  in  the  ex- 
istence and  government  of  G-od,  and  that  he  is  good  to 
all,  we  are  affectingly  taught  our  dependence,  our  need 
of  help  from  Him  who  is  Almighty,  and  the  indispen- 
sable duty  of  trusting  in  Him  at  all  times. 

In  the  vicinity  of  this  city,  one  mile  south  of  it,  on  a 
beautiful  and  healthy  elevation  of  ground,  is  a  Retreat 
for  the  insane.     I  went  to  see  it  yesterday  for  the  first 


RESIDENCE    IN   HARTFORD.  211 

time  since  my  residence  here,  and  I  felt  greatly  inter- 
ested. There  are  now  li>(>  inmates  of  the  buildings, 
which  are  very  large,  and  surrounded  with  many  very 
charming  objects.  Without  being  abrupt  at  all  in 
ascent,  the  site  of  the  Retreat  is  sufficiently  elevated  to 
be  easy  to  be  kept  clean,  and  to  afford  a  wide  and 
variegated,  and  ornamental  prospect.  All  report 
agrees  in  representing  the  management  of  this  estab- 
lishment as  being  eminently  kind  and  effective.  I  was 
strongly  impressed  with  what  I  heard  and  saw.  though 
there  were  so  many  persons  there  as  visitors  that  I  con- 
cluded to  postpone  to  another  time  enquiries  which  1 
had  designed  to  make.  I  went  through  the  lower  hall 
of  the  building,  however,  and  walked  across  its  ample 
grounds.  Within  half  a  mile  of  the  building  one  con- 
stantly hears  songs,  shouts,  screams,  and  clamor  from 
the  inmates.  There  are  uttered  such  tones  as  health}' 
organs  are  never  tuned  to,  indicative  of  distress,  rage, 
and  every  passion.  I  heard  female  voices,  harsh, 
rapid,  shrill,  and  sorrowful,  all  mixed  up  in  a  manner 
to  me  very  novel  and  afflicting.  Going;  from  the  edi- 
fice  down  one  of  its  last  walks,  about  100  rods  from 
shelter,  in  the  corner  of  a  field,  we  found  the  saddest 
spectacle  of  quiet  melancholy  that  ever  met  my  eye.  A 
man  looking  to  be  about  my  age.  tall,  thin,  and  silent, 
was  slowly  walking  backwards  and  forwards  on  a  path 
not  more  than  30  feet  long,  where  in  weather  not  par- 
ticularly intemperate  he  is  to  be  found,  at  all  hours  of 
the  day  (except  those  in  which  he  is  called  t  i  sleep  and 
eat),  saying  nothing  and  scarcely  regarding  anything. 
He  answers  shortly  and  mournfully  if  spoken  to,  and 
seems  occupied  exclusively  by  some  sad  spirit.  I  in- 
tend to  see  him  again,  if  I  can,  and  by  expressions  of 


212  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

that  sympathy  and  good-will  for  him  which  I  feel,  learn 
from  himself  his  history.  His  path  is  as  hard  as  any 
part  of  the  highway,  and  as  much  worn.  I  imagine  his 
grief  is  of  domestic  or  religions  origin.  This  life  has 
mairy  forms  of  intense  distress  which  you  and  I  have 
never  witnessed.  I  pray  that  neither  we,  nor  any  of 
ours,  may  ever  feel  them. 

With  love  to  all  yours, 

Most  affection atefy, 

Myron  Holley. 

"While  residing  in  Hartford  Mr.  Holley  appeared 
before  a  committee  of  the  legislature  in  favor  of  a 
law  against  extra-judicial  oaths.  He  drew  up  the 
committee's  report,  and  the  bill  it  recommended. 
Perhaps  a  grander  piece  of  wisdom  was  never 
committed  to  a  legislative  pigeon-hole.  The  bill 
is  good  law,  whether  it  was  enacted  by  the  next 
Assembly  or  not.  It  is  one  of  those  laws,  how- 
ever, which  must  enforce  itself.  Perhaps  the  only 
way  in  which  the  government  can  do  anything 
effective  towards  its  enforcement  is  to  set  the  ex- 
ample of  dispensing  with  oaths  altogether  in  its 
own  practice,  as  some  of  the  best  lawyers  now 
hold  that  they  are  utterly  useless  there,  if  not  per- 
nicious. Only  the  free-masons  know  whether 
they  have  dispensed  with  them  in  their  practice. 


RESIDENCE    IN    HARTFORD.  213 


REPORT    AND    BILL. 

The  Joint  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
Petition  of  Gains  Lyman  and  others,  praying  for  the 
passage  of  a  law  to  prohibit  the  administration  of  extra- 
judicial oaths,  respectfully  report : 

That  they  have  diligently  examined  the  allegations 
contained  in  the  said  petition,  and  have  enquired  of 
witnesses  under  oath,  and  consulted  documents  of  in- 
disputable authority  concerning  the  truth  thereof,  and 
concerning  various  other  facts  connected  therewith,  and 
they  arc  of  opinion  that  they  arc  true,  and  that  the  best 
interests  of  the  state  require  the  interposition  of  the 
legislature  in  the  premises. 

The  facts  relied  on  in  the  petition,  and  the  proofs 
obtained,  are  all  connected  with  the  institution  of  free- 
masonry, and  show  that  institution  to  be  distinguished 
by  the  following  features,  viz.  : 

It  is  a  voluntary  institution,  embracing  men  only, 
between  non-age  and  dotage,  neither  idiots  nor  mad- 
men. 

Its  professed  object  is  the  promotion  of  charity  and 
science. 

Its  most  indispensable  requisition  is  that  of  inviolable 
secrecy  in  respect  to  its  essential  peculiarities. 

It  secures  this  secrec}'  by  oaths,  with  most  of  which 
is  connected  the  penalty  of  death  in  case  of  their  A'iola- 
tion. 

Its  secrets  consist  of  its  ceremonies  of  initiation  ;  its 
oaths,  the  crimes  committed  by  its  members  against  the 
public,  including  the  highest  known  to  the  law  ;  and  its 
pass-words,  grips,  signs  and  cyphers  for  private  com- 
munication. 


214  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

Its  oaths  are  imposed  under  false  pretences  and 
taken  without  being  at  all  previously  considered  and 
understood  by  the  persons  taking  them,  and  they  con- 
tain injunctions  utterly  irreconcileable  with  moral  recti- 
tude in  those  who  obey  them,  with  impartial  justice  in 
the  most  important  business  of  life,  and  with  the  safety 
of  the  state. 

Its  ceremonies  are  grossly  indecent  and  shocking!}' 
profane. 

In  reference  to  the  first  of  these  characteristics  :  by 
excluding  from  its  embrace,  in  the  outset,  the  most 
helpless  sex,  feeble  infancy  and  old  age,  with  all  such 
as  are  born  slaves,  or  suffer  under  the  most  afflict- 
ing disabilities  of  life,  we  perceived  the  sphere  of  its 
charity  is  very  much  circumscribed.  Its  arrangements, 
on  this  head,  are  rather  made  with  a  business-like  and 
prudential  regard  to  possible  necessities  among  its  mem- 
bers, and  those  immediately  depending  on  them,  than 
with  an}'  more  generous  viejvs.  But  such  provision,  if 
adhered  to  with  fidelity  and  involving  no  injustice  to 
others,  is  in  a  certain  degree  commendable.  If,  how- 
ever, the  funds  raised  by  the  contributions  of  all  per- 
sons initiated  into  the  society  under  the  expectation  of 
their  being  devoted  to  charity  and  science  are  chiefly 
applied  to  the  purchase  of  useless  and  vain  decora- 
tions, buildings  to  accommodate  its  meetings  and  to 
rent,  and  refreshments  often  needless  and  pernicious, 
there  seems  to  be  connected  with  this  feature  of  the 
institution  more  of  fraud  than  of  charity ;  and  that 
such  are  the  chief  applications  of  the  funds  was  satis- 
factorily proved.  Passing  from  this  most  prominent  of 
the  professed  objects  of  the  society,  the  committee  are 
fully  convinced  that  its  profession  of  promoting  science 


RESIDENCE    IX    HARTFORD.  215 

is  intended  as  an  allurement  to  the  increase  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  wholly  illusory.  The  witnesses  examined 
knew  of  no  useful  discoveries  ever  made  by  free- 
masonry,  of  any  publication  of  useful  books,  or  any 
establishment  or  endowment  of  any  seat  of  learning;. 

The  next  in  order  of  its  characteristics,  as  we  have 
stated  them,  is  its  secrecy.  Is  there  any  standing  pur- 
suit in  which  a  good  man  can  engage  that  requires 
secrecy?  In  the  administration  of  criminal  justice, 
secrecy  is  required  for  a  time,  that  is.  till  the  accused 
is  secured  for  legal  trial :  and  the  selfishness  of  nations, 
in  their  wars  and  negotiations,  sometimes  enjoin  tem- 
porary secrecy.  But  secrecy  always  implies  injustice, 
shame,  or  crime  somewhere.  Can  freemasonry  require 
secrecy  for  any  injustice,  shame,  or  crime,  except  its 
own  f  If  it  requires  it  for  this,  is  it  not  the  duty  of  the 
legislature  to  frown  upon  it  ? 

The  secrecy  of  freemasonry  is  secured  by  oaths ; 
without  these  the  society  would  not  continue  long  to 
exist.  The  penalty  of  these  oaths  is  always  unlawful. 
It  amounts  to  death  in  most  of  the  degrees.  No  man 
has  a  right  to  kill  himself,  or  voluntarily  to  put  his  life 
in  hazard,  without  the  authority  of  government,  to 
which  he  owes  allegiance,  or  a  necessity  occasioned  by 
a  violent  invasion  of  the  great  rights  he  derives  from 
his  Maker.  But  the  oaths  are  promissory,  and  the 
promises  are  many  of  them  unlawful  and  criminal. 
We  bes:  leave  here  to  state  some  of  them. 

In  the  first  oath  the  officer  of  the  lodge,  who  admin- 
isters it.  makes  the  candidate  swear  that  he  will  always 
hail,  ever  conceal,  and  never  reveal  any  part  of  the 
secrets  of  freemasonry  which  he  may  afterwards  be 
instructed  in  —  the  officer  always  knowing  that  among 


216  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

such  secrets,  if  the  candidate  advances  to  the  third 
degree,  are  included  crimes  against  the  state. 

In  the  second  oath,  the  candidate  swears  that  he  will 
obey  all  regular  signs  or  summons  handed  him  by  a 
brother  of  that  degree,  or  sent  him  from  a  lodge,  with- 
out any  exception  but  that  of  its  being  to  be  obe}'ed 
within  a  certain  distance  from  him,  and  excluding;  all 
objection  arising  from  the  illegality  or  criminality  of 
the  summons. 

In  the  third  oath  the  candidate  swears  that,  on  re- 
ceiving the  sign  of  distress  from  a  brother  of  that 
degree,  he  will  fly  to  his  relief  if  there  is  a  greater 
probabilit}'  of  saving  the  life  of  the  distressed  than  of 
losing  his  own  ;  that  he  will  not  speak  evil  of  a  brother 
of  that  degree,  neither  behind  his  back  nor  before  his 
face ;  that  he  will  apprise  him  of  all  approaching 
danger,  if  he  can  ;  that  he  will  }"ield  the  same  pas- 
sive obedience  as  in  the  foregoing  oath  ;  that  he  will 
keep  the  secrets  of  a  brother  of  that  degree,  when 
communicated  to  him  as  such  and  he  knowing  them  to 
be  such,  as  securely  as  the  criminal  himself  would  keep 
them,  murder  and  treason  excepted,  and  the}'  left  to  his 
discretion. 

In  the  oath  of  the  seventh  decree  the  candidate 
swears  to  aid  a  companion  of  that  degree,  and,  if  in 
his  power,  to  extricate  him  from  any  difficulty,  ichether 
he  be  right  or  wrong ;  to  conceal  his  crimes  as  in  the 
preceding  degrees  ;  only  murder  and  treason,  in  this 
degree,  are  explicitly  not  excepted,  as  most  usually 
administered. 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  these  oaths  are  taken 
to  be  obe}red  absolutely  and  on  all  occasions,  without 


RESIDENCE    IX   HARTFORD.  217 

any  exception  in  favor  of  the  laws  of  the  land  or  any 
other  civil,  moral  or  religious  obligation. 

The  nature  of  the  promises,  penalties  and  ceremonies 
contained  in  the  oaths  of  freemasonry  being  criminal 
and  indecent,  affords  strong  ground  for  the  secrecy  of 
the  order.  Such  promises,  with  such  penalties  and 
accompanied  by  such  ceremonies,  no  man  would  have 
the  effrontery  to  impose  in  the  face  of  the  world,  and 
no  man  would  take  upon  himself,  nnderstandingly, 
because  they  are  decidedly  at  war  with  every  repub- 
lican sentiment,  with  every  moral  feeling,  and  with 
explicit  Christian  precept. 

These  oaths  are  not  binding.  —  they  are  promissory. 
A  promissory  oath  is  the  calling  upon  God  to  take 
notice  of  what  is  promised,  and  invoking  his  vengeance 
by  the  promiser  upon  himself  if  it  is  not  performed. 
Promises  are  not  binding  where  false  or  erroneous 
representations  and  inducements  are  held  out  to  those 
who  take  them.  The  representation  made  to  the  can- 
didate before  admission,  that  the  oath  will  affect  neither 
his  religion  nor  his  politics,  is  of  this  character,  and  so 
are  the  pretensions  of  the  society"  to  the  promotion  of 
science. 

To  take  an  oath  is  a  solemn  and  deliberate  act  of  the 
mind.  Understanding  is  essential  to  its  obligation,  on 
which  account  oaths  impose  no  obligation  upon,  and 
are  not  administered  to.  idiots,  lunatics,  madmen,  or 
young  children,  they  not  having  sufficient  knowledge  of 
the  nature  of  the  things  promised,  nor  of  the  penalties 
of  non-performance  :  and  both  of  these  sorts  of  knowl- 
edge arc  requisite.  There  can  be  no  moral  obligation, 
in  any  case,  without  knowledge  ;  and  in  respect  to  the 
nature  of  the  promises  and  penalties  in  the  oaths  of 


218  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

freemasomy,  all  the  persons  before  alluded  to  as  being 
free  from  the  obligation  of  oaths  for  the  want  of  under- 
standing,  have  as  much  knowledge  as  the  wisest  of  the 
brethren  had  before  the  oaths  were  taken. 

The  right  to  administer  oaths  is  a  prerogative  of 
sovereign  power  and  cannot  be  enjoyed  concurrently 
by  the  government  and  its  subjects.  It  would  be  both 
wrong  and  ridiculous  for  any  individual,  not  authorized 
by  law,  to  pretend  to  a  natural  right  of  administering 
oaths  in  such  form,  with  such  penalties,  and  for  such 
purposes  as  he  might  choose  to  dictate  ;  and  such  pre- 
tension would  not  be  made  valid  bj  his  finding  an}* 
man,  or  number  of  men,  who  would  consent  to  take 
them.  Even  if  the  form,  penalties  and  purposes  were 
all  good,  this  would  be  true.  The  right  of  administer- 
ing oaths  does  not  exist  anterior  to  the  establishment 
of  government  nor  independently  of  it.  It  springs 
from  the  necessities  of  government  after  its  establish- 
ment. It  is  a  right  of  the  most  sacred  character,  serv- 
ing the  most  solemn  purposes  of  civil  organization.  It 
cannot  exist  in  individuals  or  associations,  except  when 
conferred  upon  them  by  government. 

There  is  no  rightful  government  in  our  country  but 
that  of  religion  and  the  laws  adopted  under  our  civil 
institutions.  Christianity  commands,  '-  Swear  not  at 
all."  Civil  government  has  not  conferred  upon  free- 
masomy the  right  to  administer  an}*  oath.  AYould  it 
not  be  a  violation  of  every  man's  conscience  and  a 
scandalous  breach  of  his  allegiance  to  our  government 
for  him  to  administer  an  oath  under  pretence  of  author- 
ity from  any  foreign  government?  It  is  equally  so 
under  pretence  of  authority  from  freemasonry.  None 
of  the  oaths  of  that  institution  are  authorized  by  our 


RESIDENCE    IX   HARTFORD.  219 

laws :    thev    are    therefore    unlawful    and    not   oblig- 
ator}-. 

The  performance  of  some  of  the  promises  in  the 
masonic  oaths  is  in  all  cases  unlawful,  and  of  many 
others  of  them,  in  some  cases,  it  is  so.  A  promise  to 
conceal  crimes,  to  give  notice  of  approaching  danger 
from  lrgal  prosecution  for  crime,  to  assist  any  out  of 
difficulty,  right  or  wrong,  is  always  unlawful,  the 
promiser  being  under  a  prior  obligation  to  the  con- 
trary. From  such  prior  obligation  what  shall  discharge 
him  ?  His  promise  ?  His  own  act  and  deed  ?  But  an 
obligation  from  which  a  man  can  discharge  himself,  by 
his  own  act,  is  no  obligation  at  all. 

An  oath  can  never  bind  a  man  to  do  what  is  morally 
wrong.  If  it  is  a  bond  of  duty,  let  us  consider  what 
is  the  authority  of  'duty.  It  is  the  command  of  God, 
or  general  utility,  opposition  to  which  is  the  very  defini- 
tion of  wrong.  It  is  both  preposterous  and  impious  to 
call  upon  God  to  take  notice  of  what  is  in  opposition 
to  his  command.  To  make  a  promise  under  such  cir- 
cumstances is  deeply  sinful ;  to  break  such  a  promise 
alwa}*s  a  duty. 

Our  laws  regard  the  due  administration  of  oaths  as 
of  great  importance  in  ascertaining  the  truth  m  the 
most  important  concerns  of  individual  right  and  the 
public  safety.  And  it  is  wholly  inconsistent  with  their 
due  administration  to  have  them  administered  at  all 
without  authorit}*.  To  assume  the  power  to  admin- 
ister them  without  is  a  flagrant  criminal  and  dangerous 
usurpation  of  sovereign  power.  Unauthorized  swear- 
ing is  profanity,  subject  to  punishment  b}'  our  laws ; 
and  the  offence  of  such  profanity  is  amazingly  en- 
hanced  b}T  circumstances  of  premeditation,  indecency 


220  MYROX   HOLLEY. 

and  mockery,  and,  most  of  all,  by  the  deliberate  usur- 
pation of  authority  to  commit  it.  The  Father  of  his 
Country,  in  his  farewell  address,  emphatically  asks, 
"  Where  is  the  security  for  property,  for  reputation, 
for  life,  if  this  sense  of  religious  obligation  desert  the 
oaths,  which  are  the  instruments  of  investigation  in 
courts  of  justice?" 

In  the  administration  of  the  masonic  oaths  we  have 
said  the  ceremonies  are  grossly  indecent  and  shock- 
ingly profane.  To  show  this  we  need  only  refer  to 
those  of  the  first  degree,  which,  however,  are  not  so 
deeply  revolting  as  those  of  some  of  the  higher 
degrees. 

Such  false  professions,  such  criminal  and  dangerous 
oaths,  such  indecent  and  profane  ceremonies  we  are 
convinced  should  be  strictly  prohibited  b}r  law ;  and  in 
order  to  effect  such  prohibition  we  have  proposed  a 
bill,  which  we  report  herewith,  and  recommend  to  be 
passed  into  a  law.  All  which  is  respectfully  sub- 
mitted. 

Signed,  per  order :  George  Spofford, 

Chairman. 

Ax  Act  in  addition  to  an  Act  concerning  Crimes  and  Punishments. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen- 
tatives in  General  Assembly  convened :  That  every 
person  who  shall  hereafter  knowingly  and  wilfully  ad- 
minister to  any  other  person,  an}'  oath  not  by  law 
authorized  or  required,  and  shall  be  thereof  duly  con- 
victed, shall  for  every  such  offense  forfeit  and  pay  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  dollars. 

And  every  person  who  shall  hereafter  knowingly, 
wilfully,  and  willingly  receive  any  such  oath,  and  shall 


UESIDEXCE    IN   HABTFOBD.  221 

be  thereof  duly  convicted,  shall  for  every  such  offense 
suffer  a  like  penalt}\ 

The  impression  he  made  on  his  native  State, 
and  which  its  semi-capital  made  on  him,  may  best 
be  discovered  from  a  lorn?  letter  addressed  to  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  George  Kingman  : 

Hartford,  19th  Oct.,  1834. 

My  dear  Elizabeth,  —  Your  last  excellent  letter 
was  dury  received,  and  gave  me  great  pleasure,  though 
I  have  not  been  verj-  prompt  in  answering  it.  All  the 
expressions  of  affection  which  it  contains  my  heart  has 
responded  to  every  day  since  I  received  it ;  and  will 
respond  to  when  its  pulsations  are  lost  in  the  ethereality 
of  our  spiritual  nature.  The  only  comforts  I  have  en- 
joyed, in  this  place,  have  arisen  from  my  consciousness 
of  being  honestly  employed,  my  hopes  of  meeting  the 
members  of  my  family  soon  in  health  and  undiminished 
affection  for  me,  and  the  excellent  letters  with  which 
so  many  of  them  have  favored  me.  But  nry  exile 
seems  long.  How  man}'  long  evenings  I  have  passed 
in  lonelj'  but  tender  recollections  of  nry  dear  children, 
their  connexions,  their  new  relations,  their  increasing 
social  interests,  their  past  histoiy,  with  all  the  endear- 
ing incidents  which  have  made  up  my  domestic  expe- 
rience !  My  person  is  in  Hartford  ;  nry  senses  are  con- 
versant with  its  scenery  ;  but  my  mind,  my  thoughts, 
my  hopes,  and  nry  love  are  far  to  the  west,  occupied 
with  far  dearer  images  associated  with  all  my  true  en- 
joyments upon  earth,  and  which  to  me  must  essentials- 
contribute  to  the  bliss  of  heaven.     Do  not  from  these 


222  MYROX    HOLLEY. 

remarks  imagine  that  I  am  destitute  of  the  respect 
of  those  with  whom  I  live.  Seeking  to  do  no  mis- 
chief, and  prosecuting  nry  employment  in  a  spirit  of 
good  will  toward  others,  though  I  have  not  much 
society,  reasonable  evidences  of  estimation  wait  upon 
me  wherever  I  go.  But  the  regards  of  strangers, 
especial!}'  such  as  pertain  to  the  calculations  of  a 
sordid  utility,  and  are  offered  to  the  mind  more  than 
to  the  heart,  and  imply  the  expectation  of  remunera- 
tion in  some  shape  or  other,  have  very  little  in  them 
to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  a  free  and  social  nature. 
They  constitute  commodities  condemned,  b}'  all  the 
higher  powers,  as  contraband,  in  the  intercourse  of 
love.  Hartford  is  prosperous  in  its  business,  has  far 
more  wealth  than  am'  other  place  in  Connecticut,  and  is 
enlarging  its  business  and  population.  It  is  two  hun- 
dred 3'ears  old.  Several  generations  are  deposited  in 
its  burying  grounds,  among  whom  individuals  were  found 
that  were  of  energetic  character  and  commanding  vir- 
tues. Its  early  settlement  was  opened  and  made  safe 
and  successful,  by  public  spirit,  enterprise  and  hardi- 
hood, that  deserved  the  name  of  a  fearless  and  gener- 
ous philanthrop}*.  Its  infanc}',  like  that  of  most  other  new 
settlements,  was  noted  for  the  neighborly  sj'mpathies 
which  it  manifested  ;  and  the  hazards  by  which  it  was  long 
surrounded  called  forth  and  cultivated  much  vigilance 
and  shrewdness  and  self-reliance.  These  qualities  still 
distinguish  it,  in  the  channels  of  business.  They  are 
not  the  only  qualities  needed  to  make  societ}'  desirable. 
"Where  the}'  prevail  to  the  exclusion  of  quick  moral 
sense,  and  all  true  relish  for  that  spiritual  communion 
which  builds  up  the  inner  man.  and  fits  him  for  those 
enjoyments  which    he  beyond  the  power  of  time  and 


RESIDENCE    IN   HARTFORD.  223 

sense,  thev  are  only  coarse  means  to  coarser  ends.  I 
fear  Mammon  has  more  devoted  worshippers  here  than 
an}'  other  God.     Johnson  says,  in  one  of  his  satires  : 

This  mournful  truth  is  everywhere  confest, 
Slow  rises  worth,  by  poverty  deprest ; 
But  here  more  slow,  where  all  are  slaves  to  gold, 
"Where  looks  are  merchandise,  and  smiles  are  sold. 

And  it  seems  to  me  to  apply  more  to  this  place,  than 
an}'  other  to  which  my  acquaintance  has  extended. 
But  censure  is  not  an  agreeable  employment,  and  I  will 
break  off  from  this  strain.  I  was  led  to  it  by  a  sensa- 
tion, perhaps  too  keen,  of  nry  personal  want  of  sympa- 
thizing companionship. 

AVe  had  an  anti -masonic  state  convention  here  last 
Wednesday  and  Thursda}',  in  which,  being  one  of  its 
members,  I  took  part,  which  gained  me  credit.  My 
manner  of  conducting  the  Free  Elector  too  was  cor- 
dially approved  by  that  body.  These  circumstances 
are  gratifying  to  me,  and  on  that  account  will  please 
vou.  The  anti-masons  wish  very  much  that  I  should 
engage  with  them  for  another  year,  and  are  trying  to 
gain  patronage  for  the  paper  in  such  a  degree  as  shall 
induce  me  to  remain.  But  I  can  be  no  longer  sepa- 
rated from  my  family.  If  nothing  better  can  be  done 
for  them,  I  must  come  home  and  get  disencumbered  of 
my  debts  b}T  surrendering  all  my  property,  and  so  be 
at  liberty  to  start  anew,  and  devote  1113' self  to  their 
society,  to  their  support,  protection,  comfort,  and  the 
education  of  the  little  ones.  I  hope  a  better  lot  awaits 
us,  but  will  not  be  discouraged  if  my  fortune  takes  this 
color.  My  health  is  good,  my  character  I  trust  is  not 
deteriorated,  my  sense  of  duty  to  my  family  is  strength- 


224  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

ened,  and  I  will  work  for  them  with  the  constancy  and 
ardor  of  the  truest  affection.  I  cannot  live  thus  away 
from  them.  My  days  and  nights  are  troubled  with 
apprehensions  of  their  suffering  for  necessary  food 
and  fire,  and  clothing.  I  shall  soon  write  to  your 
mother,  and  I  hope  to  be  able  to  send  her  some 
monej\  Tell  George  I  thank  him  for  what  he  has  done 
for  them,  and  hope  he  will  keep  them  along  and  not  let 
them  suffer.  I  shall  be  able  to  pay  all  yet.  If  mv  in- 
terest at  Rochester  is  advertised  for  sale  on  the  mort- 
gage, and  George  should  find  it  out,  I  wish  he  would 
send  me  a  paper  containing  the  advertisement.  Per- 
haps I  could  make  some  arrangement  here  to  my  benefit 
with  it. 

Remember  me   most   affectionately  to  your  mother, 
Grace,  Bolly,*  Sail}',  and  all  nry  other  friends. 

As  ever  vours, 

Myron  Holley. 

*  This  was  his  pet  name  for  his  youngest  son,  Bolivar.  On 
all  the  generous  minds  of  that  age  the  conduct  of  the  great 
South  American  patriot  and  liberator  produced  a  profound 
impression.  To  the  Senate  of  Colombia  (afterwards  divided 
into  the  republics  of  New  Grenada,  Venezuela  and  Ecuador), 
Simon  Bolivar  said  :  "  I  beg  as  fervently  of  my  country  as  I 
would  for  the  lives  of  my  children,  that  you  will  never  consent 
that  clime,  or  color,  or  creed,  should  make  any  distinction  in 
your  republic." 

Again,  to  the  Legislature  of  Bolivia  and  Peru  he  said:  — 
"  Legislators  !  Slavery  is  the  infringement  of  all  laws.  A  law 
having  a  tendency  to  preserve  slaveiy  would  be  the  grossest 
sacrilege.  Man  to  be  possessed  by  his  fellow  man  !  Man  to 
be  made  property  of  !  The  image  of  the  Deity  to  be  put 
under  the  yoke !  Let  these  usurpers  show  us  their  title  deeds !" 


RESIDENCE    IX    HARTFORD.  22') 

So  when  his  editorial  engagement  was  at  an  end, 
in  spite  of  the  earnest  entreaties  of  his  Connecti- 
cut friends,  he  hastened  home  to  his  cosy  stone 
cottage  in  Lyons,  not  to  live  long  anions  his 
quince  and  mulberry  trees,  but  to  do  what  he 
could  to  relieve  the  little  property  he  had  left  from 
the  incumbrances  which  burdened  it.  After  much 
struggle  he  effected  the  sale  of  his  house  and  five 
acres  in  Lyons,  and  bought  a  farm  of  120  on  the 
Geuesee  below  Rochester  —  and  no  firmer  ever 
enjoyed  life  more  than  he  did  on  that  beautiful  spot. 
The  place  was  broad,  fertile,  genial  and  unpreten- 
tious, like  himself.  A  grand,  pensile  willow  tree 
standing  near  the  commodious  house  he  built,  will 
assure  the  stranger  that  he  has  found  the  sacred 
home  where  he  lived  at  the  sublimest  period  of 
his  life. 


226  MYRON    HOLLEY. 


CHAPTEK  XXI. 


LIBERTY    PARTY. 


In  spite  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  in  words  abolished  slavery  as  emphatically 
as  it  separated  the  colonies  from  the  mother 
country,  and  in  spite  of  the  constitution  of  1787, 
which  created  the  United  States  as  a  nation  with- 
out re-establishing  slavery,  that  abominable  and 
inhuman  institution  existed  in  nearly  all  the 
states  in  the  early  years  of  the  present  century ; 
and  while  Myron  Holley  was  so  bravely  battling 
with  the  more  local  masonic  usurpation,  the  ex- 
tension of  slavery  was  the  governing  interest  of 
the  nation.  The  South  claimed  that  human  chat- 
telism  was  entrenched  in  the  constitution,  and  the 
people  of  the  North,  almost  without  exception, 
admitted  that  claim.  Constitutionally  and  legally, 
it  was  not  a  question  of  race  or  color  at  all.  The 
assumption  was,  partus  sequitur  ventrem.  Once  a 
slave  forever  a  slave,  whatever  the  race  or  com- 
plexion of  the  mother.     Physical  human   slavery 


LIBERTY   PARTY.  227 

no  longer  exists  in  any  of  the  United  States.  It 
abolished  itself  by  its  own  inherent  unwisdom. 
It  was  not  by  any  political  foresight  or  integrity 
of  the  Xorth  that  it  met  its  fate.  The  slave  power 
misjht  have  continued  to  govern  the  nation  had  it 
not  insisted  on  suppressing  the  freedom  of  speech 
and  the  press  by  brute  force,  and  on  using  the 
national  power  to  restore  fugitive  slaves.  The 
great  civil  war  was  by  no  means  a  crusade  against 
slavery,  though  it  well  enough  might  have  been, 
and  probably  would  have  been,  if  Captain  John 
Brown,  instead  of  James  Buchanan,  had  been 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Morally  speaking,  the  crime  of  slavery  resided 
no  less  in  the  north  than  the  south.  Xew  Eng- 
land ships  imported  the  slaves  from  Africa  and 
sold  them  chiefly  in  the  southern  colonies,  be- 
cause there  their  labor  was  more  profitable  than 
on  the  rugged  hills  of  Xew  Hampshire  and  Massa- 
chusetts. But  even  after  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  slaves  were  held  in  the  northern 
states.  They  were  held  in  Xew  York  so  late  that 
perhaps  Myron  Holley  may  have  owned  one  for 
domestic  service  in  Canandaigua.  Some  others, 
in  his  time,  certainly  did.  But  the  institution 
gradually  faded  out  at  the  north,  till  "Mason  and 


228  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

Dixon's  line  "  divided  the  slave  states  from  the 
free,  and  in  1820  that  line  was  extended,  virtually, 
to  the  Pacific,  by  a  "solemn"  compromise. 

Little  did  the  great  slaveholders  of  that  day 
dream  what  was  to  happen  in  the  next  two  or 
three  decades.  The  Yankee  Whitney,  in  giving 
them  the  cotton-gin,  had  opened  to  them  a  vision 
of  wealth  beyond  all  El  Dorados.  Cotton  was 
now  Kins:,  and  the  whole  commerce  of  the  north 
bowed  the  knee  in  allegiance  to  his  majesty.  The 
white  race  of  the  south,  enriched  by  the  labor  of 
the  slaves,  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  govern  the 
nation.  The  negroes  raised  the  cotton,  the  sailors 
carried  it  to  market,  and  Calhoun  thought  Charles- 
ton  would  soon  be  more  powerful  than  London 
and  Rome  combined.  Did  not  the  soil  of  the 
south  have  more  sunshine  than  that  of  the  north, 
and  the  monopoly  of  a  plant  with  which  the 
subject  looms  of  England  and  New  England  could 
clothe  and  bed  the  world  ? 

But  while  the  ingenious  southern  statesmen 
were  dreaming  these  dreams,  Myron  Holley  was 
patiently  and  enthusiastically  digging  that  ditch 
through  the  marshes  and  swamps  of  New  York, 
which  in  1825  was  to  let  the  enterprising,  well 
schooled  white  free  laborers  into  the  vast  forests 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  229 

of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan,  and  into  the 
boundless  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 
These  became  rich  states,  while,  as  to  the  mass  of 
the  white  population,  all  the  south  became  poor. 
More  and  more  the  great  trading  metropolis  of  the 
east,  Xew  York,  derived  its  wealth  rather  from 
this  new  west  than  from  the  south.  By  ten  years 
after  the  Missouri  compromise,  so  cunningly  con- 
trived by  Henry  Clay,  the  north  and  new  west 
were  ripe  for  a  moral  movement  to  emancipate 
public  sentiment  from  its  servility  to  the  slave- 
holders. This  was  an  all-important  step  in  the 
solution  of  the  great  problem.  The  ignorant 
masses  of  the  great  cities  and  large  towns  could 
not  be  relied  upon  to  aid  it.  It  was  too  easy  to 
make  them  believe  it  was  an  attack  on  their  means 
of  living  rather  than  a  vindication  of  their  rights. 
Even  their  patriotism,  no  less  than  their  pre- 
judices, was  appealed  to  against  it.  Neither  were 
the  powerful  Christian  sects,  or  churches,  to  be 
relied  on.  To  them  it  was  a  theological  civil  war. 
And,  as  organizations,  they  stood  by  an  institu- 
tion which  at  the  south  was  as  much  in  the  church 
as  in  the  world.  As  obstructions  to  the  moral 
movement,  the  churches  were  far  more  effective 
than  the  mobs.     The  pulpit  everywhere  —  with  a 


230  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

very  few  exceptions  —  either  justified  slavery  from 
the  scriptures,  or  denounced  abolitionism  as  a 
pestilent  sin. 

I  The  germ  of  the  moral  movement  against  slavery 
was  in  the  heart  and  head  of  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  a  young  printer,  born  in  Newburyport, 
Mass.,  in  1805.  His  heart  and  head,  from  early 
manhood,  were  full  of  the  Golden  Rule  and  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  He  had  never  been 
schooled  into  Jesuitism.  Till  it  shone  out  in  him, 
there  had  been  no  solid  basis  for  any  moral  move- 
ment against  the  bad  system,  for  even  such  a 
devoted  abolitionist  as  Benjamin  Lundy  proposed 
only  gradual  emancipation,  thus  giving  up  both 
the  Golden  Rule  and  the  Declaration.  Garrison, 
when  he  joined  Lundy,  in  Baltimore,  in  editing 
the  "Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation,"  in  1828, 
at  the  age  of  23,  advocated,  with  a  most  refreshing 
and  contagious  vigor,  the  duty  of  immediate  aboli- 
tion, personal  and  national.  He  denounced  the 
pretension  of  property  in  human  beings  as  abso- 
lutely false,  and  every  act  of  ownership  as  a  crime, 
law  or  no  law.  Here  was  a  solid  logical  founda- 
tion,  on  which  a  man  could  stand  without  stultify- 
ing himself.  When  you  asked  a  man  or  woman 
how  would  you  like  to  be  a  chattel,  sold  on  the 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  231 

auction  block,  even  for  a  single  day,  there  could 
be  but  one  answer.  For  gradual  emancipation, 
especially  if  accompanied  with  colonization  or 
deportation  of  the  emancipated,  the  slave  power 
cared  little,  if  anything.  But  Garrison's  new 
doctrine  was,  in  their  view,  treason  to  the  state 
and  blasphemy  to  the  church.  Of  course  it  was 
not  long  before  he  was  in  a  Baltimore  prison,  and 
it  was  on  complaint  of  a  Xewburyport  slave 
trader,  whose  name  is  elsewhere  handed  down  to 
posterity.  Arthur  Tappan,  a  very  benevolent 
Christian  silk  merchant  of  Xew  York,  effected  his 
release.  Garrison  soon  after  established  his  famous 
Liberator  in  Boston,  which,  in  spite  of  all  sorts 
of  persecution,  mobocratic  and  theocratic,  con- 
tinued to  be  issued  weekly  till  the  slaves  were 
proclaimed  free,  at  the  close  of  the  rebellion. 

There  never  was  a  more  foolish  act  of  persecu- 
tion —  unless  we  except  two  or  three  recent 
instances  against  the  free  use  of  the  United  States 
mails  —  than  throwing  young  Garrison  into  a 
Baltimore  prison.  It  was  terribly  ominous  of 
what  happened  to  the  Confederacy  of  Jefferson 
Davis  about  37  years  afterwards.  If  Garrison 
had  been  wrong,  his  doctrine  would  have  died  of 
itself.     Eight  as  it  was,  possibly  it  never  would 


232  MYRON    HOLLEY. 


have  triumphed  if  he  and  his  followers  had  not 
been  persecuted.  He  owed  his  success,  seeming- 
ly, rather  more  to  the  folly  of  his  persecutors  than 
to  his  own  wisdom  and  perseverance. 

While  Mr.  Garrison  deserves  more  glory  than 
he  has  received,  or  perhaps  ever  will  receive,  for 
being  the  uncompromising  leader  of  the  moral 
movement  against  chattel  slavery,  he  was  subject 
to  some,  perhaps  inevitable,  but  unfortunate,  limi- 
tations. He  accepted  the  prevalent  theory  that 
slavery  was  entrenched  behind  guarantees  in  the 
Federal  constitution.  So  that  he  fought  not  only 
against  the  slave  power,  but  against  the  constitu- 
tion itself,  as  a  "Covenant  with  death,  and  an 
agreement  with  hell,"  fondly  quoting  Jeremiah, 
whereas  with  a  reasonable  interpretation  making 
the  instrument  consistent  with  itself,  there  was 
not  a  clause  or  word  in  it  which  could  operate 
either  as  a  guarantee  or  justification  of  chattelism 
or  property  in  a  human  being.*     On  account  of 

*  The  fault  of  the  Constitution  was  not  that  it  authorized 
or  guaranteed  slavery,  but  that  it  did  not,  in  express  terms, 
forbid  it.  By  fair  implication  it  did.  But  ignoring  the  exist- 
ence of  the  foul  injustice,  the  framers  of  the  instrument  left 
it  to  be  abolished  by  the  states,  giving  Congress  and  the  fed- 
eral courts  no  power  to  act  upon  it,  except  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  the  territories  and  the  commerce  between  the 
states.     This   was  the  "compromise."    Doctor  Franklin  at 


LIBERTY    PARTY. 

this  opinion,  apparently,  if  not  on  account  of  the 
doctrine  of  non-resistance  derived  from  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  in  the  New  Testament,  he  confined 
himself  entirely  to  the  moral  movement,  and  never 
encouraged  any  direct  or  distinct  political  action. 
Such  action,  however,  grew  inevitably  out  of  his 
moral  teaching,  in  spite  of  his  personal  aversion 
to  it. 

Slavery  begins  in  war,  and  there  is  no  peace 
till  emancipation  comes.  Hence  civil  war  existed 
in  the  colonies  and  in  the  United  States  till  1865. 
It  was  at  first  confined  to  the  masters  and  slaves 
as  the  belligerents.  After  the  formation  of  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society  in  1833,  it  broke 
out  decidedly  in  the  July  mobs  in  Xew  York,  in 

the  time  wrote  to  a  bosom  friend,  who  expostulated  with  him 
about  it :  — 

i:  It  is  a  little  sop  to  Cerberus — the  best  thing  that  can  be 
done  at  present — it  cannot  last  long  ;  there  is  too  much  virtue 
in  the  country.  As  fast  as  men  become  honest  they  will  drop 
slavery.  Every  honest  man  knows  the  laborer  is  worthy 
of  his  hire;  and  would  just  as  soon  keep  your  purse,  that  he 
had  found,  because  fortune  put  it  in  his  possession,  as  he 
would  compel  a  poor  man  or  woman  to  bear  the  heat  and  bur- 
den of  the  day  for  him  without  reward.  There  is  not  one 
shade's  difference  between  the  two  ;  and  further, — 

What  he  to  Afric's  child  would  do, 

He'd  do  to  thee  and  thine. 
So  guard  your  spoons  and  daughters  too, 

Whene'er  he  comes  to  dine."' 


234 


MYRON    IIOLLEY. 


1834.      Slavery  fired  upon  the  peaceful  settlers  of 
Kansas  before  it  did  upon  Fort  Sumter. 

The  one  man  who  did  more  than  any  other  to 
start  the  political  movement  which  culminated  in 
1860  in  the  victory  of  a  part}'  opposed  to  any  fur- 
ther geographical  extension  of  slavery  was  Myron 
Holley.  At  the  latter  date,  with  California  and 
New  Mexico  added  to  the  Union,  it  was  plain 
enough  to  the  slaveholders  that  if  slavery  could 
not  be  extended  to  them,  the  system,  and  the  pow- 
er founded  upon  it,  was  doomed.  So  they  put 
themselves  in  the  attitude  of  carrying  out  their 
chronic  threat  of  dissolving  the  Union,  and  com- 
mitted the  serious  military  blunder  of  attacking 
Sumter,  instead  of  occupying  Washington.  If 
the  southern  leaders  had  had  the  boldness  of  a 
good  cause,  or  even  the  usual  wisdom  of  a  bad 
one,  they  would  have  stayed  under  the  old  flag  at 
Washington,  barred  out  Lincoln,  and  inaugurated 
Breckenridge.  Their  folly  was  fortunate  for  the 
slaves  and  for  us  all.  Still,  it  was  the  grand  po- 
litical movement  which  grew  out  of  the  little  Lib- 
erty Party  of  1840  that  drove  the  slaveholders 
into  this  folly.  The  party  that  voted  for  Fremont 
in  1856  and  for  Lincoln  in  1860,  was  as  clearly  the 
natural  result  of  that  which  voted  for  Birney  in 


LIBERTY    PARTY. 


235 


1840  and   1844,    as  an   oak  is   of   a   well-planted 
acorn.*    It  was  the  last  ^reat  labor  of  Mr.  Hollev'- 

*  The  growth  of  the  Liberty  Party,  through  the  names  of 
Free  Soil  and  Republican,  up  to  victory,  is  evidenced  by  the 
following  series  of  figures,  giving  the  votes  cast  against  the 
pro-slavery  candidates,  compared  with  the  whole  popular 
vote,  in  six  presidential  elections  :  — 

Liberty.  Free  Soil.  Republican. 


Free  Soil. 

A 


Year 

Candidates, .     .     . 
Votes,      '.     .     .     . 

Presidents  elected 
"Whole  vote,      .    . 


1540.         1844.  1848.       1851.  1856.         1860. 

Birney.   Birney.  VanBuren.  Hale.      Frenrnt.  Lincoln. 
7,069         62,263  291,342   155,825     1,341,264  1,857,610 


Pierce.  B'chan'n.  Linc'ln. 


Harrison     p  lt        Taylor 
&  Tyler.     l  &1~-  &  Fillra're. 

2,395,900  2,678,121  2,572,056  3,143,679  4,053,967  4,645,390 


Though  Lincoln  did  not  have  a  majority  of  the  popular 
vote,  he  had  a  large  majority  of  the  electors,  and  really  rep- 
resented a  vast  majority  of  the  people,  counting  as  people  all 
the  women  and  enslaved  men — not  allowed  to  vote — and  al.^o 
a  majority  of  the  virtue,  intelligence  and  worth. 

The  Liberty  vote  in  1S-10  seems  ridiculously  small  com- 
pared with  the  whole  vote,  and  it  was  fairly  so  compared  with 
the  voting  abolitionists,  then  embodied  in  Anti-Slavery  Socie- 
ties, who  could  have  numbered  not  less  than  70.000.  It  was 
generally  reported  by  the  newspapers  —  if  at  all — as 
"  scattering."  The  following  are  the  official  returns,  as  col- 
lected  by  Mr.  Greeley,  though  he  does  not  give  any  for 
Indiana,  where  some  votes  were  certainly  cast  for  Birney. 

VOTES   FOR   BIRNEY   AND   EAKLE   IX    1840. 


Maine,     .     .     . 
New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, 

Vermont,  .  . 
Rhode  Island,  . 
Connecticut,    . 

New  England, 


194 

120 

1,621 

3  li» 

42 

174 

2,470 


New  York 2,808 

New  Jersey,     ....       69 
Pennsylvania,  ....     343 

Ohio 903 

Micnigan, 321 


Illinois 


149 

4,593 

2. -I  70 


Total 7 


Other  stal 


236  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

life  to  plant  that  acorn.  It  grew  in  the  soil  his 
earlier  labors  watered,  and  which  his  recent  labors 
had  been  ploughing  and  harrowing.  His  life  had 
been  making  both  the  physical  and  moral  prepara- 
tion for  the  growth  of  such  a  party.  He  was  just 
the  broad,  sensible,  far-seeing  man  to  be  the  father 
of  it.  And  it  will  <^o  down  to  the  remotest  future 
that  he  was  ;  —  that  he,  almost  alone,  of  all  the 
prominent  abolitionists  of  his  day,  insisted  on 
planting  the  acorn  when  it  was  planted ;  and  but 
for  him  it  certainly  would  not  have  been  planted 
then,  if  ever. 

It  was  not  till  the  winter  of  1837,  when  Mr.  Hol- 
ley  had  become  comfortably  established  in  his  new 
home  of  Rose  Ridge,  on  the  Genesee,  two  or 
three  miles  below  Rochester,  that  he  began  to  take 
a  practical  interest  in  the  slavery  question.  His 
son-in-law,  Hon.  Graham  II.  Chapin,  was  then 
in  Congress,  and  under  date  of  Feb.  23  he  writes 
to  his  daughter  Caroline,  who  was  with  her  hus- 
band in  Washington  :  "  The  things  most  deeply 
interesting  to  me  in  the  proceedings  of  Congress, 

The  "Political  Text  Book"  of  Greeley  and  Cleveland,  and 
Johnston's  "  American  Politics,"  state  the  total  as  7,G09,  but 
this  is  by  an  error  of  transposing  figures.  The  Liberty  men, 
however,  were  right  in  saying  that  they  had  in  1840  "seven 
thousand  men  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal." 


LIBERTY    TARTY.  237 

during  the  present  session,  relate  to  the  question 
of  slavery.  And  these  things  I  am  persuaded  will 
become  more  and  more  interesting  at  every  future 
session  of  the  national  legislature,  till  slaverv  is 
abolished.  Bv  the  same  mail  which  carries  this  I 
send  to  Mr.  Chapin  a  copy  of  an  abolition  address 
which  I  delivered  here  at  Rochester  a  short  time 
ago.  If  you  or  Mr.  Chapin  read  it,  you  will  per- 
ceive that  it  is  written  without  passion,  and  that  it 
was  prepared  without  reference  to  many  docu- 
ments. At  Washington  I  presume  a  diligent  in- 
quirer might  find  many  evidences  of  the  state  of 
public  opinion  in  all  the  states  on  this  subject,  at 
and  subsequent  to  the  Declaration  of  Indepen-„ 
dence.  A  collection  of  such  documents,  copi- 
ous and  authentic,  would  be  very  valuable.  As 
Mr.  Adams,  the  late  President,  has  read  and  pre- 
served everything  almost  connected  with  every 
question  agitated  much  in  the  course  of  our  na- 
tional progress,  I  have  thought  that  he  may  have 
made  a  speech  which  is  published  with  reference 
to  such  documents.  If  he  has,  it  would  oblige 
me  very  much  to  receive  a  copy  of  it." 

But  for  the  "  abolition  address '  here  referred 
to,  Mr.  Iiolley  would  probably  soon  have  been  in 
Congress  himself.     He  was  by  far  the  ablest  rep- 


238  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

resentative  that  could  then  be  sent  from  his  dis- 
trict. His  long  anti-masonic  service  was  in  his 
favor,  rather  than  otherwise.  The  whig  party 
controlled  at  that  time  a  decided  majority  in  the 
district,  and  offered  the  nomination  to  Mr.  Holley, 
on  the  condition  that  he  would  not  agitate  the 
slavery  question.  He  rejected  it,  rather  than  be 
gagged  on  that  question,  for  to  act  against  slavery 
was  all  that  could  tempt  him  to  leave  his  family 
and  his  delightful  home.  Congress,  in  those  days, 
lost  many  valuable  members  by  such  action  of 
the  dominant  political  parties.  William  Leggett, 
of  New  York,  was  a  signal  instance,  in  the  demo- 
cratic party.  As  editor  of  the  JST.  Y.  Evening 
Post,  he  had  shamed  the  city  authorities  into  sup- 
pressing the  anti-abolition  mobs  of  1834,  and  his 
party  dared  not  trust  him  in  Congress  without  a 
padlock  on  his  lips,  on  that  subject. 

But  the  abolitionists  who  were  then  or^anizins: 
with  zeal  in  all  parts  of  the  free  states,  were  wise 
enough  to  avail  themselves  of  such  a  champion 
as  Mr.  Holley,  and  in  Dec.  1838,  he  writes  to  his 
daughter  Mrs.  Kinsman,  at  the  close  of  a  lono- 
and  interesting  letter  in  which  he  pictures  the 
happiness  of  family  ties,  "I  intend  in  a  day  or 
two  to  go  out  in  this  county   and  give  lectures 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  239 

upon  anti-slavery,  and  after  trying  it  a  week,  if 
I  can  stand  it  pretty  well,  to  continue  it  for  three 
months.  I  am  offered  $130  for  such  services 
three  months."  The  testimony  of  those  who  heard 
them  is,  that  no  lectures  made  a  deeper  or  more 
lasting  impression  than  his. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  183Y,  there  occurred 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  the  most  as- 
tounding declaration  of  sentiments  on  the  slavery 
question  which  ever  proceeded  from  the  lips  of 
any  man  called  a  statesman  in  the  nineteenth  or 
perhaps  any  previous  century.  It  may  fairly  be 
considered  as  the  declaration  of  that  war  which 
ended  at  Appomattox.  The  dominant  citizens  of 
the  District  of  Cc'.umbia,  of  course  slaveholders, 
had  got  up  a  petition  to  Congress  praying  it  to 
stop  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  by  re- 
fusing to  receive  any  petitions  for  its  abolition, 
there  or  elsewhere,  and  it  was  of  course  signed 
by  hundreds  of  non-slaveholders,  who,  whatever 
might  be  their  opinions,  did  not  dare  to  refuse. 
This  was  placed  for  presentation  in  the  hands  of 
Henry  Clay,  whose  voice  in  its  favor  would  obvi- 
ously be  more  effective  than  that  of  John  C.  Cal- 
houn.  Mr.  Clay  in  presenting  it,  outdid  all  that 
Calhoun  had  ever  done,  and  at  once  received  the 


240  MYROX    HOLLEY. 

hearty  congratulations  of  that  champion  of  human 
bondage.  The  great  orator  of  Grecian  Liberty, 
the  legislator  who  had  won  the  hearts  of  the 
northern  Croesuses  by  his  "American,"  or  tariff 
protection  M  system/'  here  made  the  mistake  of  his 
life  and  threw  away  his  chance  of  being  either  the 
next  president,  or  the  next  but  one.  His  ex- 
pressed terror  lest  the  morality  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  should  2,et  into  the  ballot-box, 
induced  at  least  a  few  of  the  'x  ultra-abolitionists  " 
to  resolve  that  it  should  go  there  without  loss  of 
time, — and  stay  there  till  it  should  effect  its 
object. 

Mr.  Clay  was,  in  any  good  cause,  probably  the 
most  forcefully  eloquent  man  who  ever  spoke  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  or  in  the  popular 
house.  On  this  occasion  he  exhausted  his  elec- 
trical energy,  and  there  never  was  a  more  diabo- 
lical justification  of  a  diabolical  institution,  as  will 
be  seen  by  consulting  the  Appendix  of  the  Con- 
gressional Globe,  Vol.  7,  page  355,  where  it  stands 
carefully  revised  by  himself.  Here  are  some  of 
his  exact  words  with  his  own  italics  : 

"  Mr.  President,  it  is  at  this  alarming  stage  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  ultra- abolitionists  that  I  would  seri- 
ously  invite   eveiy   considerate   man    in   the   eountiy 


LIBERTY    PA  LIT  V.  241 

solemnry  to  pause,  and  deliberately  to  reflect,  not  merely 
on  our  existing  posture,  but  upon  that  dreadful  precipice 
down  which  they  would  hurry  us.  It  is  because  these 
ultra-abolitionists  have  ceased  to  employ  the  instruments 
of  reason  and  persuasion,  have  made  their  cause  poli- 
tical, and  have  appealed  to  the  ballot-box,  that  I  am 

induced  upon  this  occasion  to  address  3'ou 

"  I  know  that  there  is  a  visionary  dogma  which  holds 
that  negro  slaves  cannot  be  the  subject  of  property.  I 
shall  not  dwell  long  with  this  speculative  abstraction. 
That  is  property  which  the  law  declares  to  be  property. 
Two  hundred  3'ears  of  legislation  have  sanctioned  and 
sanctified  negro  slaves  as  property.  Under  all  the 
forms  of  government  which  have  existed  upon  this 
continent  during  that  long  space  of  time  —  under  the 
British  government  —  under  the  Colonial  government 
—  under  all  the  State  constitutions  and  governments  — 
and  under  the  Federal  government  itself — the}'  have 
been  deliberately  and  solemnly  recognized  as  the  legi- 
mate  subjects  of  property.  To  the  wild  speculations 
of  theorists  and  innovators  stands  opposed  the  fact, 
that  in  an  uninterrupted  period  of  two  hundred  3'ears 
duration,  under  every  form  of  human  legislation,  and 
b\T  all  the  departments  of  human  government,  African 
negro  slaves  have  been  held  and  respected,  have  de- 
scended and  been  transferred,  as  lawful  and  indisput- 
able property." 

He  then  goes  on  to  cite  as  a  British  concession 
of  the  right  of  property  the  paying  of  £20,000,- 
000  to  free  the  slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  and  pro- 
ceeds, with  stupendous  audacity,  to  say  :  — 


242  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

4 'If,  therefore,  these  ultra-abolitionists  are  sincerely 
determined  to  pursue  their  scheme  of  immediate  aboli- 
tion, the}'  should  at  once  set  about  raising  a  fund  of 
twelve  hundred  millions  of  dollars  to  indemnify  the 
owners  of  slave  property.  And  the  taxes  to  raise  that 
enormous  amount  can  only  be  justly  assessed  upon 
themselves,  or  upon  the  free  states,  if  the}'  can  persuade 
them  to  assent  to  such  an  assessment ;  for  it  would  be 
a  mockery  of  all  justice,  and  an  outrage  against  all 
equit}r,  to  lay  any  portion  of  the  tax  upon  the  slave 
states  to  pay  for  their  own  unquestioned  property." 

In  thus  converting  the  slave  power  into  a  mone}^ 
power  the  astute  politician  forgot  how  the  people 
had  lately  overthrown  a  money  power  of  only  some 
sixty  millions,  and  still  dreaded  its  recovering 
ascendancy.  If  there  w7as  concentrated  at  the 
south  another  20  times  as  great,  what  could  they 
expect  but  eternal  subjection  to  it?  Two  days 
later  an  honest  democrat,  Thomas  Morris,  of 
Ohio,  who  had  seldom  opened  his  lips  in  the 
Senate  during  the  five  previous  years,  presented 
the  petitions  of  thousands  of  abolitionists  in  Ohio, 
praying  for  abolition  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
with  an  exceedingly  modest  but  manly  speech, 
which  deserves  to  be  in  all  our  school  books.  One 
of  its  points  was  that  Mr.  Clay's  money  power  of 
twelve  hundred  millions  had  only  to  join  the  great 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  243 

Biddle  Bank  monopoly  to  extinguish  our  liberties 
and  rule  the  world. 

Undoubtedly  this  atrocious  and  thoroughly 
brutal  speech  of  Henry  Clay  excited  a  profound 
emotion  in  the  breast  of  Myron  Holley.  For  him 
it  struck  at  the  foundation  not  only  of  his  politics 
but  his  religion.  I  have  already  said  he  was  a 
deeply  religious  man.  But  his  religion,  though 
he  took  for  granted  that  it  grew  out  of  the  Bible, 
where  the  slaveholders  also  found  their  sanction, 
was  really  better  expressed  by  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  He  was  that  sort  of  Christian 
that  for  some  years  he  had  found  a  more  congenial 
atmosphere  outside  of  churches  than  in  them,  and 
was  very  commonly  spoken  of  as  an  infidel. 
Being  invited  to  deliver  an  oration  in  Perry,  X.Y., 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1839,  he  took  occasion  to 
give  his  views  of  the  slavery  question  at  consider- 
able length.  A  few  extracts  from  this  production 
will  serve  to  show  the  logic  which  underpinned 
the  Liberty  Partv. 

Feiexds  and  Fellow  Citizen?. —  To  honor  our 
parents  is  a  natural  duty,  of  which  the  obligation  is 
equally  plain  and  imperative.  It  is  the  first  command- 
ment with  promise  ;  and  no  man  is  so  dull  as  not  to 
perceive  its  beneficial  tendency.  Those  who  bring  us 
into  being,  who  nourish,  protect,  instruct,  encourage 


244  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

and  guide  us,  are  entitled  to  our  gratitude,  reverence 
and  obedience.  Their  affectionate  solicitude  and  con- 
tinual labor  for  our  well-being  and  advancement,  can 
be  repaid  onl}T  b}T  our  performance  of  all  our  filial 
obligations. 

Enlarging  the  application  of  this  natural  duty  bej'ond 
the  confines  of  the  domestic  hearth,  we  are  assembled 
this  da}'  to  offer  a  reasonable  homage  to  our  civil  fathers. 
Never  has  human  life  presented  a  day  so  worthy  to  be 
consecrated  to  such  homage  as  that  which  we  are 
engaged  in  celebrating  ;  and  never  were  a  people  bound 
to  their  civil  fathers,  b}r  obligations  so  numerous,  pre- 
cious and  persuasive,  as  those  under  which  it  is  our 
privilege  to  live.  With  what  words  —  with  what 
emotions  —  with  what  principles  —  does  it  become  all 
the  children  of  this  great  republic,  to  mark  the  anniver- 
sary of  their  national,  freedom,  and  to  honor  its 
illustrious  founders  !  Every  honest  heart  will  respond 
—  with  none  but  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness  — 
with  none  but  emotions  of  the  most  expansive  patriot- 
ism —  with  none  but  the  principles  of  equal  and 
universal  liberty  can  they  be  duly  marked  and  honored. 

The  day  we  celebrate  was  not  one  of  inconsiderate 
exultation  or  unmanly  depression  —  of  unchastened 
revelry,  or  gloonry  mortification  — of  frivolous  distinc- 
tions, or  unproductive  ceremon}'.  It  was  a  da}r  when 
good  men  spoke  freely,  and  sincerely  and  ardently  — 
when  they  thought  anxiously  and  intensely,  but  clearly 
and  candidly  —  when  they  acted  bravely,  consistently 
and  perseveringly.  The  great  subjects  which  filled 
their  minds  were  the  rights,  duties,  improvement  and 
happiness  of  social  life.  These  subjects  they  examined 
and  discussed,  with  an  earnestness,  comprehension  and 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  I  J 

sagacity  new  iu  the  history  of  nations,  because  th<«y 
regarded  them  with  the  deep  interest  of  the  most  exten- 
sive and  permanent  self-application  :  and  the  results  at 
which  the}-  arrived,  the}'  resolved  to  maintain,  with  the 
legitimate  force  of  truth,  with  a  fortitude  which  no  trial 
could  discourage,  and  with  a  philanthropy  the  most 
unlimited  and  beneficent.  Their  labors,  their  smTe rings, 
their  achievements,  their  disinterestedness,  have  exeit 
the  sympathies  and  admiration  of  mankind.  Their 
words  have  alreadv  come  to  be  considered  as  the  living, 
imperishable  and  inspiring  accents  of  freedom.  Their 
thoughts  are  set  in  the  polished  framework  of  our  con- 
stitutions, where  they  glow  and  shine,  with  unclouded 
and  genial  lustre,  for  our  warmth  and  guidance  ;  and 
where,  I  devoutly  trust,  they  will  continue  to  glow  and 
shine,  with  lustre  undiminished,  till,  like  the  lights  in 
the  firmament  of  heaven,  they  warm  and  guide  the 
world. 

He  then  proceeds  to  describe  the  character  of 
the  men  who  peopled  our  continent  from  the  old 
world.  They  were  chiefly  law-abiding,  but  more 
disposed  to  value  themselves  as  creations  of  the 
Supreme  Being  than  as  subjects  of  the  state. 
They  were  men  who  could  not  be  driven  from 
their  sense  of  duty  by  any  amount  of  persecuting 
force.  How  those  men  faced,  defied  and  over- 
threw British  usurpation,  he  depicts  in  vivid  colors. 

They    were    republicans.      The}*    loved    liberty,   as 
indispensable  to  all  pure  enjoyment  and  elevated  hope. 


246  MYROX     HOLLEY. 

They  looked  upon  it  as  of  God's  appointment,  without 
which  there  could  be  neither  right,  nor  duty,  nor  ini- 
provement,  nor  happiness  —  and  these  were  the  enels 
of  their  creation  —  the  great  objects  of  their  care  for 
themselves  and  for  their  children.  The}'  had  been  born 
and  bred  to  freedom.  They  had  long  inquired,  and 
conversed,  and  learnt,  and  labored,  and  loved,  and 
hated,  and  lived  without  unreasonable  restraint.  And 
they  coulel  bear  everything  better  than  to  thinlc  under 
the  supervision  of  human  authority  ;  to  talk  in  a  bonds- 
man's key  ;  to  profess  opinions  the}-  eliel  not  entertain  ; 
to  countenance  sentiments  they  despise  el ;  to  feel  the 
new-forgeel  collars  of  servitude  burning  and  blistering 
their  bodies,  and  their  inevitable  effects  corrupting  the 
immortal  wealth  and  obscuring  the  inextinguishable 
light  of  their  souls. 

They  fought ;  they  conquered.  Their  outward  prep- 
aration was  small,  anel  their  muster  mean  to  the 
eye.  But  they  hael  the  highest  and  holiest  preparation 
of  the  heart  and  understanding.  Their  battle  was 
gallant  and  long  sustained  against  the  most  formidable 
odels.  Their  cause  was  the  mighty  cause  of  the  human 
race,  and  the  Great  Being  who  keeps  that  cause  as  the 
apple  of  his  e}Te,  crowned  it  with  success.  The  names 
of  our  fathers  will  be  forever  sweet  in  the  mouths  of 
men.  Their  praise  is  alread}-  in  all  the  earth.  And 
every  nation  shall  }-et  repeat,  throughout  all  its  multi- 
tudes, and  in  the  fullest  joy  of  self-appropriation,  the 
glad  song  of  their  victory. 

Showing  how  the  republican  government  com- 
menced its  career  on  principles  that  did  riot  admit 
the    existence  of  slavery,  and  how  it  practically 


LIBERTY    TARTY.  217 

excluded  it  from  the  common  territory  of  the 
states,  and  how  the  universal  expectation  was  that 
it  would  cease  in  twenty  years,  he  proceeds  to  say  : 

Since  our  nation  was  thus  solemnly  pledged  against 
it,  slaveiy  has  increased  in  the  United  States  more  than 
in  any  country  in  the  world.  It  has  multiplied  five- 
fold. More  slaves  are  now  annually  smuaaled  into  this 
country  than  ever  were  imported  in  any  single  year  of 
our  colonial  existence,  and  there  are,  probably,  more 
open  slave-traders  in  the  southern  states  than  there  are 
on  the  whole  Guinea  coast  of  Africa.  The  nations  of 
the  earth,  in  the  aggregate,  have  scarcely  more  capital 
embarked,  in  this  detestable  traffic,  on  the  high  seas, 
at  this  moment,  than  the  great  Atlantic  cities  of  this 
Union  have,  and  derive  less  pecuniary  profit  from  it. 
Virginia  sells  annuallv,  of  her  own  native  children,  into 
the  most  cruel  bondage,  to  the  estimated  amount  often 
millions  of  dollars.  The  merchants  in  New  York  alone 
have  legal  claims  upon  the  persons  of  men,  women  and 
children,  endowed  with  the  same  natural  rights  as  they 
enjoy,  to  secure  debts,  as  upon  articles  of  property,  to 
another  amount  estimated  at  ten  millions.  Our  national 
authorities  have  given  to  the  trade  in  slaves  imported 
from  Africa,  the  name  of  piracy,  and  have  then  winked 
at  its  perpetration  by  pardoning  convicts  under  the  act, 
and  by  permitting  the  sale  of  imported  slaves  in  our 
country !  The}'  have  admitted  new  states  into  the 
Union,  in  which  all  that  industry  which  constitutes  the 
great  basis  of  national  wealth  was  to  be  discouraged, 
by  the  infamy  and  restraints  of  slaveiy;  and  yet,  in 
consequence  of  this  infamy,  the  authors  of  it  are   to 


24*  MYRON  IIOLLEY. 

enjoy  political  power  to  dispose  of  national  wealth,  and 
determine  who  shall  fill  the  most  important  of  our  public 
offices,  much  greater  than  that  of  an  equal  number  of 
honest  freemen.  They  have  purchased  immense  Terri- 
tories, at  the  common  cost  of  the  nation,  in  which  the}' 
have  extended  the  institution  of  slaveiy  and  the  same 
unjust  political  power.  And  the}*,  by  sheer  usurpation, 
have  introduced  laws  creating  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  have  long  witnessed  there  the  sale  of 
free  citizens  to  pa}*  jail  fees,  by  their  own  officers, 
without  any  expression  of  disapprobation,  thus  destroy- 
ing all  justice  and  humanity  in  the  spot  consecrated  by 
the  name  of  Washington  —  where  the  national  honor 
especially  dwells,  and  where  they  are  constitutionally 
endowed  with  the  right  to  legislate,  in  all  cases  what- 
soever. 

At  this  moment  the  two  great  political  parties  of  our 
country,  sharing  the  favorable  wishes,  exertions,  and 
purses  of  a  majority  of  the  people  fancying  themselves 
free,  are  emulously  exerting  themselves  to  cast  the 
highest  honor  of  the  nation  upon  men,  one  of  whom  has 
prostrated  his  dignity  and  insulted  the  nation  by  com- 
mitting himself  to  oppose  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  district  (where  it  exists  only  in  defiance  of  the  Con- 
stitution which  he  has  sworn  to  support),  until  such 
abolition  is  consented  to  by  the  slave  States  !  and  the 
other  of  whom  has  publicly  affirmed  that  human  beings 
may  become  property,  chattels,  articles  of  traffic,  when- 
ever barbarous  and  sordid  legislation  shall  so  enact ; 
and  he  a  man,  too,  who,  as  a  representative  of  this  na- 
tion, a  few  }*ears  ago,  signed  his  name  to  a  treaty  in 
which  the  traffic  in  slaves  is  said  to  be  irreconcilable 
with   humanity   and  justice,    and   publicly   bound    hi 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  _  t9 

country  to  use  its  best  endeavors  to  effect  its  entire  abo- 
lition !  Many  men  of  intelligence,  abilities,  high  sta- 
tion, and  influence,  at  the  South,  have  come  out  before 
the  public  and  represented  slavery  as  a  blessing,  and 
these  men  and  their  abettors  have  violated  the  highest 
rights  of  their  free  countrymen,  and  all  the  obligations 
of  the  constitution,  to  prevent  its  discussion,  and  to 
hinder  the  spread  of  free  principles.  They  are  sus- 
tained by  the  apathy  or  open  support  of  a  large  major- 
ity of  politicians,  professing  Christians,  and  printing- 
presses,  in  all  the  free  States.  Nowhere  in  the  land 
consecrated  by  the  ashes  of  Washington  and  Jefferson, 
is  any  man,  professing  openly  their  most  important  sen- 
timents, safe  from  the  cowhide  or  tar-barrel,  the  bowie 
knife  or  the  rifle-ball.  In  the  person  of  Amos  Dresser, 
freedom  and  Christianity  were  publicly  scourged  in 
Tennessee  !  In  the  person  of  Aaron  W.  Kitchell,  the}- 
were  rode  on  a  rail,  and  tarred  and  feathered  in  Geor- 
gia !  In  the  person  of  Peter  John  Lee,  they  were  kid- 
napped and  sold  into  slavery  in  New  York !  In  the 
person  of  J.  B.  Mahan,  they  were  ruthlessly  delivered 
up  in  Oho,  and  sent  for  long  incarceration  in  Ken- 
tucky !  In  the  person  of  E.  P.  Lovejoy,  they  were 
murdered  in  Illinois!  "O!  what  a  fall  was  there, 
mv  countrvmem  !  Then  you  and  I,  and  all  of  us,  fell 
down,  whilst  bloody  treason  flourished  over  us  !  "  And 
yet  government — the  government  set  up  by  our  fathers 
—  framed  upon  the  model  of  Christianity,  under  the 
wing  of  which  they  trusted  their  children,  and  child- 
ren's children,  would  forever  sit  in  security,  was,  in  the 
entire  letter,  yet  existing.  Its  spirit  and  provisions 
were  standing  out  on  the  unmutilated  face  of  the  na- 
tional charter,  in  obvious  and  direct   condemnation  of 


250  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

these  enormities.  This  spirit  and  these*  provisions  can 
take  effect  only  through  human  agenc}',  and  the  admin- 
istrators of  the  government  can  alone  emplo}'  such 
agency.  But  they  said  nothing,  did  nothing.  Worse 
than  this,  they  encouraged  these  atrocities,  and  com- 
mitted others  of  equal  enormit}'.  Deputy  post-masters 
rifled  the  mails  with  which  the}T  were  officially  entrusted. 
The  post-master  general,  sworn  to  guard  that  great 
department  of  public  power  from  all  illegal  encroach- 
ment, when  openly  apprised  of  these  proceedings,  re- 
fused not  only  to  discharge  the  delinquents,  but  even 
to  censure  them  !  And  the  President  of  the  United 
States  lent  all  his  influence  to  countenance  these  alarm- 
ing assaults  upon  the  common  rights  of  the  people,  and 
officially  recommended  measures  to  extend  them ! 

How  can  the  principles  of  our  government  be  rein- 
stated and  perpetuated?  I  answer,  by  resorting  to  the 
same  powers  through  which  they  were  originally  estab- 
lished. These  powers,  we  have  seen,  were  the  inculca- 
tion of  moral  and  religious  truth,  by  precept  and 
example,  and  the  application  of  it  to  all  the  purposes 
of  government.  The  practical  application  of  truth  to 
government  is  political  action. 

It  has  become  fashionable  with  many  of  late  to  de- 
grade the  word  political  into  a  signification  narrow, 
sordid,  grovelling,  selfish,  and  personal.  This  is  be- 
cause those  who  have  chiefly  controlled  it  have  betnvyed 
it  to  services  characterized  by  these  epithets.  It  should 
have,  and  ma}'  have,  a  much  higher  meaning ;  and 
must  be  wholly  reclaimed  from  its  base  significance,  or 
the  memory  of  our  fathers  and  the  hopes  of  their  child- 
ren will  perish. 


LIBERTY    PAETV.  251 

It  was  eloquence  of  this  sort  that  kindled  a  lire 
in  Central  New  York  which  the  political  leaders 
could  not  entirely  ignore,  which  caused  the  Whigs, 
at  their  convention  in  Harrisburg,  Dec.  4,  1839, 
to  set  aside  their  favorite  Henry  Clay,  and  nomi- 
nate Wm.  Henry  Harrison  on  no  platform  at  all. 
He  was  a  northern  man,  with  no  principles  about 
slavery  which  had  ever  been  very  distinctly  de- 
dared  ;  but  the  slaveholders,  with  good  reason, 
trusted  him,  having  a  vice-president  of  their  own 
behind  him.  He  was  elected,  and  both  Webster 
and  Granger  had  to  sell  themselves  to  the  slave- 
power  for  places  in  his  Cabinet. 

But  before  Harrison  was  nominated,  Myron 
Holley's  eloquence,  wisdom  and  perseverance,  in 
spite  of  the  wrong-headedness,  timidity  and 
stupidity  of  the  mass  of  the  abolitionists,  had  put 
in  nomination  a  hero  and  patriot  worthy  of  the 
name,  a  man  against  whom,  four  years  later,  the 
Whigs  ventured  to  pit  Henry  Clay,  and  by  that 
act  won  an  ignominious  defeat. 

It  must  be  understood  that  the  great  body  of 
the  abolitionists,  previous  to  Mr.  Clay's  declara- 
tion of  sentiments  in  1839,  were  solid  against  any 
distinct  political  action  or  part}'  organization.  The 
American    Anti-Slavery    Society    had    repeatedly 


252  MYROX    HOLLEY. 


put  itself  on  record  against  it.  The  most  that  was 
recommended  was  to  vote  for  the  candidate  who 
was  most  favorable  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  District  and  Territories,  of  whichever  party  he 
mic>'ht  be.  It  could  only  have  been  at  this  very 
harmless  use  of  the  ballot-box  that  the  £reat  Whi<r 
orator  took  alarm.  The  times  were  terribly  hard, 
and  main'  of  the  abolition  organs  stopped  for 
want  of  patronage.  In  the  face  of  Mr.  Clay's 
speech,  which,  if  anything  could,  would  have 
aroused  all  the  voting  abolitionists  to  act  together 
as  a  unit,  even  so  late  as  October,  1839,  a  great 
State  Anti-Slavery  Convention  at  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
went  largely  against  separate  nominations.  But 
at  that  convention  appeared  Myron  Holley,  who 
brought  forward  a  proposition  to  make  an  imme- 
diate nomination  of  President  and  Vice-President. 
It  was  opposed  by  President  Mahan,  of  Oberlin, 
Blodget,  Wade,  and  others.  "This,"  says  the 
Emancipator,  "called  up  Mr.  Holley,  who  made 
a  most  gallant  defence  of  his  resolution.  "When 
he  spoke  of  the  dignity  of  the  elective  franchise, 
and  the  solemn  responsibility  of  every  elector  to 
use  it  firmly  and  save  the  Republic,  he  was  sur- 
prisingly eloquent."  He  failed  to  find  any  sup- 
port.     With  exceptions  that  could  be  counted  on 


LIBERTY    PARTY. 


the  iingc'rs,  the  400  delegates  present  at  that  con- 
vention  entirely  failed  to  appreciate  the  hope- 
lessly pro-slavery  attitude  of  the  two  parties,  or 
that  true  power  of  the  ballot-box,  which  Clay  had 
so  overwhelmingly  demonstrated.  Nothing  can 
better  illustrate  this  than  Henry  B.  Stanton's 
reply  to  a  letter  which  had  been  written  him  just 
before  the  convention,  ur<nno-  \i\m  to  use  all  his 
influence  to  have  the  nomination  made  then  and 
there,  and  let  it  be  followed  up  by  other  conven- 
tions as  they  should  take  place.* 

*  This  letter  was  strictly  confidential,  and  rather  hasty. 
Of  course,  it  was  not  laid  before  the  Convention.  But  being 
stolen  from  Mr.  Stanton's  hat  while  dining  at  a  hotel,  it  was 
soon  after  published  in  the  Liberator,  as  an  effective  mis- 
sile against  the  "  new  organization." 

That  organization  doubtless  had  in  it  men  actuated  by  un- 
worthy motives  and  prejudices.  It  certainly  had  in  it  some 
men  of  genuine  anti-slavery  zeal,  and  some  martyrs.  What 
attracted  to  it  some  highly  practical  men  was,  that,  at  the 
start,  it  favored,  or  professed  to  favor,  distinct  political 
action,  while  the  "old  organization"  bitterly  opposed  it. 
The  old  organization,  however,  must  have  the  credit  of  man- 
fully asserting  the  rights  of  woman,  which  the  new  one  soon 
turned  out  to  oppose,  and  thus  put  itself  miserably  in  the 
wrong.  Gladly  would  the  Slave  Power  have  seen  this  feud, 
on  "  the  woman  question,"  absorb  all  the  energies  of  both 
sides,  for  it  well  knew  that  the  male  religion  of  Christendom, 
from  its  inventor,  Paul,  downwards,  was  the  Power  which 
held  woman  in  mental  bondage  [see  the  great  historian, 
Michelet's  Le  pretre,  la  femme  et  la  famille],  and  that  negro- 
slavery  would  be  safe  for  a  century  or  two,  if  that  was  to  be 
settled  first.     Such  men   as  Henry  B.   Stanton,  Samuel   E. 


2 b 4  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

Cleveland,  Monday,  Oct.  2S,  '39. 

Dear  Wright,  —  I  believe  your  brother,  whom  I  saw 
at  our  meeting,  is  to  give  you  a  notice  of  it  for  the 
Abolitionist,  therefore  I  will  simply  answer  your  good 
letter,  for  which  I  thank  you. 

Myron  Holley  brought  forward  the  subject  of  nom- 
inating Anti-Slavery  candidates  for  Pres.  and  V.  P. 
The  discussion  lasted  ±  an  afternoon,  the  whole  of  an 
evening,  and  £  a  forenoon.  The  proposition  was  finally 
laid  on  the  table.  My  main  reason  for  voting  for  this 
disposition  of  it  was  this  :  —  To  have  nominated  can- 
didates would  have  been  a  surprise  on  the  great  mass 

of  our  friends. 

Nothing  of  the  kind  was   indicated   in  the  call.     It 

was  a  local  meeting,  called  for  special  objects  at  the 
west.  It  was  local  in  its  representation,  being  con- 
fined chiefly  to  Ohio.     The  measure  was  as  extraordi- 

Sewall  and  William  Jackson  had  not  a  word  to  say  against 
granting-  to  woman  every  right,  political,  social,  financial  or 
religious,  claimed  by  man.  Nor  had  John  G.  Whittier, 
whose  "Pastoral  Letter,"  crying  "shame  on  ye,  parish 
popes,"  will  ring  down  the  coming  ages  till  there  shall  not 
be  a  male  politician  or  judge  mean  enough  to  refuse  to  his 
mother  or  his  wife  any  right  or  privilege  which  he  claims  for 
himself.  But  they  thought  it  wise  to  postpone  this  question 
till  the  slaveholders  were  brought  to  their  senses. 

Mr.  Oliver  Johnson,  the  venerable  and  amiable  historian  of 
the  Life  and  Times  of  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison,  in  a  private  letter 
to  the  writer,  demurs  to,  or  rather  denies,  the  statement  that 
the  "  streak  letter,"  so  called,  was  stolen.  He  must  settle  that 
question  with  Mr.  Stanton.  Mr.  Garrison  must  have  known 
that  the  publication  of  that  letter  put  its  author  in  a  cruelly 
false  position  with  some  of  his  best  friends,  because  in  his 
haste  he  used  the  phrase,  "this  confounded  woman  ques- 
tion," without  explaining  it. 


LIBEBTT    PARTY. 

narv  as  would  have  beeu  a  dissolution  of  the  Society, 
and  therefore  our  auxiliary  societies  would  have  b< 
aggrieved  by  it.  greatly •  A  nomination  made  before 
we  see  whether  the  parties  will  put  up  anybody  for 
whom  we  can  go.  would,  by  the  mass  of  our  friends, 
have  been  deemed  premature  —  and  had  we  .made  a 
nomination,  and  the  Whigs  had  put  up  Scott  and  John 
Davis,  and  we  had  called  a  Convention  in  New  York 
/State  to  nominate  an  A.  S.  electoral  ticket,  that  Conven- 
tion would  leave  decayed  it  inexpedient  to  do  no,  and 
thus  nullified  the  whole  thing.  It  would  have  been 
thought  a  trick ;  getting  away  out  here  and  doing 
what  we  knew  we  could  not  do  at  the  centre. 

No  ;  so  extraordinary  a  move  as  the  nomination  of 
national  candidates,  in  my  opinion,  should  not  be  made 
by  the  Am.  Society  without   due   notice   to  that  effect. 
Give  due  notice,  and  then  all  are  bound  to  take  notice, 
and  be  present,  or  forever  after  hold  their  peace. 

This  is  my  plan.  Wait  till  both  parties  have  nom- 
inated [the  Democratic  did  not  do  it  till  May  5,  1840], 
and  then  if  Clay  and  Van  Buren  are  the  men,  call  a 
great  Convention  to  consider  the  wisdom  of  nominat- 
ing. This  will  go  strong.  Anything  short  of  this 
would  split  the  Society  and  prove  a  failure. 

Our  meeting  was  a  grand  one.  400  Delegates.  Xo 
miserable  woman  question,  non-resistance,  nor  15-miu- 
ute  rule  to  perplex,  confuse  and  gag  us. 

Haste,  thine,  II.  B.  S. 

As  we  have  seen,  Clay  was  not  the  man,  but 
the  North  Bend  hero,  who  had  declared  that  the 
discussion  of  slavery  was  unconstitutional  and 
that  r'the  schemes  of  the  Abolitionists  were  fraught 


2l>6  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

with  horrors  upon  which  an  incarnate  devil  only 
could  look  with  approbation." 

The  Liberator  rejoiced  over  the  defeat  of  Mr. 
Holley  at  Cleveland,  as  having  saved  the  Anti- 
Slavery  cause  from  being  dashed  on  the  breakers. 
But  Mr.  Holley  was  not  discouraged.  He  had 
already  procured  the  passage  of  a  resolution  in 
favor  of  a  distinct  nomination,  in  the  Monroe 
County  Anti-Slavery  Convention  a  few  days  pre- 
vious, and  on  the  loth  of  November  a  much  larger 
Convention  assembled  at  Warsaw,  N.  Y.  There 
he  laid  out  his  full  strength,  and  carried  the  meet- 
ing as  by  storm.  There  was  made  the  first  Presi- 
dential nomination  for  the  celebrated  rtLoo-  Cabin 
and  Hard  Cider  Campaign"  of  1840.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  conveyed  the  intelligence  to  the 
leading  candidate,  and  must  have  taken  him 
somewhat  by  surprise  :  — 

Rochester,  18th  Nov.,  1839. 
Hon.  James  G.  Birney  : 

Dear  Sir, —  As  a  committee  of  an  abolition  conven- 
tion held  the  13th  and  14th  da}'s  of  this  month,  at 
Warsaw,  in  Genesee  Coumy,  we  beg  leave  to  address 
vou.  The  convention  after  having  adopted,  with  great 
harmony,  a  resolution  expressive  of  their  opinion,  that 
every  motive  of  duty  and  expediency,  which  ought  to 
control  the  action  of  a  Christian  freeman,  required  the 
abolitionists  of  the  United  States  to  organize  an  hide- 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  257 

pendent  political  party,  for  securing  their  great  object, 
proceeded  to  nominate  suitable  persons  to  be  supported 
for  election  to  the  offices  of  president  and  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  at  the  next  presidential 
canvass.  And  subsequently,  on  the  report  of  a  com- 
mittee, the  convention  concurred,  unanimously,  in  the 
nomination  of  James  G.  Birney,  of  New  York,  for  the 
first  office  above  referred  to,  and  Francis  J.  Lemoyne, 
of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  second. 

A  summary  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  con- 
vention at  Warsaw  having  been  already  forwarded  to 
you,  and  relying  fully  upon  j-our  just  appreciation  of 
the  object  and  motives  of  the  convention,  and  the  vast 
importance  of  the  distinct  political  action  of  the  abol- 
itionists, we  earnestly  hope  }'ou  will  favor  us  with  your 
consent  to  the  use  of  3-our  name,  in  conformity  with 
the  wish  of  the  convention.  To  obtain  such  consent  is 
the  object  of  this  communication.  Devoted  as  we  are, 
and  as  we  know  the  convention  to  be,  to  the  most  active 
support  of  the  nominations  above  referred  to,  and  firmly 
persuaded  that  the  great  anti-slavery  enterprise  can 
never  succeed,  without  the  organization  of  an  inde- 
pendent abolition  party ;  and  that  such  organization 
can  never  commence  at  a  time  so  auspicious  as  the 
present,  nor  under  names  more  acceptable  to  the  com- 
munity, we  repeat  the  hope,  that  }'Ou  will  concur  with 
the  views  of  the  convention,  and  favor  us,  at  your  con- 
venience, with  the  expression  of  your  concurrence. 

In  behalf  of  the  convention,  we  are,  sir,  with  great 
respect,  your  ob't  serv'ts. 

Myron  Holley, 
Joshua  H.  Darling, 
Josiah  Andrews, 

Committee  of  Corves. 


258  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

Both  candidates  declined  to  accept  this  nomina- 
tion. Dr.  Francis  Julius  Lemoyne,  a  working 
abolitionist  of  "Washington  Co.,  Pennsylvania,  out 
of  sheer  modesty,  and  because  it  would  interfere 
with  his  profession ;  and  Mr.  Birney,  because  he 
preferred  not  to  accept  it  till  it  could  come  from 
a  nationally  called  convention.  But  it  at  once 
struck  hundreds  of  abolitionists,  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  that  the  nomination  of  James  G. 
Birney  was  one  exceedingly  fit  to  be  made.  He 
had  stood  so  high  in  Alabama,  before  he  became 
an  abolitionist  and  emancipated  his  slaves,  that 
the  highest  judicial  office  in  the  state  was  with- 
in his  reach ;  in  case  of  election  he  would  have 
stood  in  all  points  of  dignity  and  statesman- 
ship above  the  average  of  presidents ;  he  had 
faced  detraction  and  mob  violence  with  the  grand- 
est heroism  and  moral  success ;  in  every  point  of 
view  he  was  a  man  so  immeasurably  superior  to 
either  Harrison  or  Tyler,  that  as  soon  as  these 
men  were  put  on  the  Whig  ticket,  every  intelli- 
gent abolitionist,  who  could  vote  at  all,  saw  an 
excellent  opportunity  of  using  his  suffrage  against 
such  candidates  with  self-respect  and  a  good  con- 
science. Accordingly,  soon  after  the  Whig  nomi- 
nation,  a  call  was  extensively  signed  by  leading 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  259 

abolitionists  for  a  National  Convention  to  meet  at 
Albany,  April  1,  1840,  to  take  into  consideration 
the  formation  of  a  Liberty  Party. 

The  movement  was  ridiculed  by  abolitionists 
opposed  to  political  action,  as  the  April  Fool  con- 
vention. Nevertheless,  it  assembled  to  the  num- 
ber of  at  least  76  members  —  generally  self- 
elected  —  from  six  states.  The  opponents  of  po- 
litical action  took  care  to  be  well  represented, 
especially  from  Albany  and  Troy.  The  Conven- 
tion promptly  assembled  in  the  City  Hall,  the  use 
of  which  had  been  courteously  granted  by  the 
City  Council,  and  121  members  were  enrolled. 
It  was  quite  obvious  that  many  of  them,  though 
professing  abolitionism,  had  enrolled  themselves 
on  purpose  to  vote  against  distinct  nominations. 
The  Convention  was  organized  by  the  election  of 
the  following  officers  : 

PRESIDENT  : 

Alvau  Stewart,  N.  Y. 

Vice  Presidents  : 
Benjamin  Shaw,  Vt. 
John  A.  Paine,  N.  J. 
Ichabod  Codding,  Me. 
Charles  T.  Torrey,  Mass. 

Secretaries  : 
L.  P.  Noble,  X.  Y. 
Joshua  Leavitt,  X.  J. 


260  MYRON"  HOLLET. 

Committee  ox  Business  and  Resolutions. 
Myron  Holley,  N.  Y. 
Joshua  Leavitt,  N.  J. 
Ichabod  Codding,  Me. 
Elizur  Wright,  Jr.,  Mass. 
Edwin  W.  Clarke,  N.  Y. 

Committee  of  Correspondence. 

Alvan  Stewart,  N.  Y. 
Gerrit  Smith,  N.  Y. 
Win.  Goodell,  N.  Y. 

Letters  approving  the  proposed  object  of  the 
Convention  were  read  from  J.  P.  Miller,  of  Vt., 
J.  G.  Whittier,  of  Mass.,  Gerrit  Smith,  H.  N. 
Robinson  and  Hiram  Corliss,  of  N.  Y.,  from  B.  F. 
Hoffman,  Levi  Sutliff  and  O.  Clark,  of  Ohio,  and 
from  Thomas  Earle,  of  Penn.  These  gentlemen 
regretted  their  inability  to  attend  the  Convention, 
and  their  words  of  cheer  proved  their  regret  so 
genuine,  that  it  was  fully  equalled  by  that  of  their 
friends  who  were  present. 

On  the  first  day,  and  the  morning  of  the  second, 
while  the  Convention  was  waiting  for  the  Report 
of  the  Business  Committee,  speeches  were  in 
order,  and  a  good  many  of  them  were  designed  to 
drench  the  object  of  the  Convention  with  cold 
water  in  advance.  One,  particularly,  by  Rev.  S. 
S.  Beman,  D.  D.,  of  Troy,  which  immediately 
preceded  the  report,  displayed  a  great  power  and 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  201 

aptitude  for  ridicule.  The  reverend  Dr.  treated 
the  principles  of  the  abolitionists  with  the  highest 
respect,  but  depicted  the  means  they  proposed  to 
employ  in  so  inadequate  and  grotesque  a  light, 
and  with  such  a  lambent  lightning  of  wit,  that  if 
the  question  of  nominating  had  been  voted  on 
immediately  after  he  sat  down,  the  Convention 
would  have  been  a  failure  and  a  joke  worthy  of 
the  date. 

Mr.  Holley  reported  the  Resolutions,  of  which 
he  was  the  author,  about  eleven  o'clock,  a.m.,  and 
occupied  nearly  two  hours  in  a  speech  advocating 
the  first,  which  was  taken  separately,  as  a  test, 
and  was  to  be  voted  on  by  yeas  and  nays.  Com- 
paratively few  members  of  the  Convention  knew 
of  him,  and  what  they  did  know  was,  perhaps, 
colored  by  prejudice.  But  his  presence  was  sim- 
ply grand.  His  voice  was  smooth,  distinct,  mu- 
sical, intensely  human.  The  contrast  of  his 
weighty,  earnest  sentences,  with  the  badinage  of 
Dr.  Be  man,  must  have  been  painful  even  to  that 
master  of  raillery.  He  had  not  spoken  five 
minutes  before  many  eyes  began  to  moisten,  and 
he  commanded  the  rapt  attention  of  every  auditor 
till  he  took  his  seat.  The  remark  was  common 
afterwards  :  "  That  was  the  most  eloquent  speech  I 


2G2  MYRON   IIOLLEY. 

ever  heard."  "Eloquent,"  said  one  member,  "is 
no  name  for  it.  It  was  divine."  At  all  events,  it 
went  to  many  hearts.  If  the  yeas  and  nays  had 
been  taken  inimediatel}r,  there  would  probably 
have  been  few  of  the  latter.  But  the  Convention 
took  a  recess  for  dinner,  and  in  the  afternoon  the 
opponents  rallied  a  little.  Dr.  Beman  had  already 
exhausted  his  forensic  ammunition,  and  confined 
himself  to  private  influence.  Rev.  David  Root, 
Moses  Breck,  and  Calvin  Pepper,  Jr.,  a  young 
lawyer  of  Albany,  successively  took  the  floor,  and 
did  their  best  to  turn  the  tide,  and  establish  an 
ebb.  But  they  were  met  by  such  men  as  Beriah 
Green;  Joshua  Leavitt,  L.  P.  Noble  and  others, 
and  at  last  Alvan  Stewart  left  the  chair,  and  in  a 
few  words,  which  would  have  put  back-bone  into 
mollusks,  closed  the  debate.  The  close  belonged 
to  Mr.  Holley,  but  he  said,  "Let  us  not  waste 
time,"  and  the  yeas  and  nays  were  then  called. 
Forty-four  of  the  121  enrolled  members  declined 
to  vote,  and  let  their  names  drop  out  of  history. 
Those  who  did  vote,  put  themselves  on  record,  as 

follows : 

Yeas. 

Maine,      .     .     .     Ichabod  Cockling,      .     .     Hallowell. 
Vekmont,      .     .     Benjamin  Shaw,    .     .     .     Weston. 

Charles  Sexton,     .     .     .     Burlington. 


LIBERTY    PARTY. 


2(33 


Massachusetts, 


Connecticut, 
New  York,   . 


Charles  Smith, 
John  E.  Cathcart, 
Charles  T.  Torre v, 
Joseph  Hulburt,    . 
Josiah  llayden,     . 
Thomas  W.  Ward, 
Elizur  Wright,  Jr., 
M.  G.  Pierce,    .     . 
L.  P.  Noble,      .     . 
E.  TV.  Goodwin,    . 
Benjamin  Paul. 
Joseph  Strain. 
E.  P.  Freeman. 
Samuel  Martin. 
James  Porter. 
Christopher  Hepinstall 
Dauiel  E.  Bassett, 
Samuel  Thompson, 
John  Wilkinson  Sleight 
William  Barnes,    . 
S.  S.  Wheeler, 

D.  R.  Norris,    .     . 

E.  M.  K.  Glen,      . 
Myron  Holley,  .     . 
Isaac  Pierce,     .     . 
William  Goodell,  . 
Alvan  Stewart, 
Edmund  C.  Pritchett 
Beriah  Green,  .     . 
E.  W.  Stewart,     . 
J.  N.  T.  Tucker,    . 
E.  Willard  Frisbie, 
James  Brown,  .     . 
E.  TV.  Clarke,  .     . 


Biiddlefleld. 
Williamsburgh. 

"Worcester. 

Curtisville. 

Haydenville. 

Shrewsbury. 

Boston. 

Middletown. 

New  York.* 

Albany. 


Poughkeepsie. 

Dover. 

Johnstown. 

Athens. 

Warsaw. 

Minnville. 

Rochester. 

New  York. 

Utica. 


Whitesboro. 

Camden. 

Apulia. 

Phelps. 

Oswego. 


*  This  residence  ma)'  be  erroneous.  I  think  Mr.  Noble 
hailed  from  northern  New  York  at  that  time.  The  residence 
of  the  six  following  Mr.  Goodwin,  is  not  indicated  in  the  re- 
port, but  probably  it  was  Albany. 


264 


MYRON   HOLLEY. 


New  York, 


New  Jersey, 


Massachusetts, 


New  York, 


D.  Cushman,     .  . 

Geo.  W.  Peayy,  . 

G.  W.  Roberts,  . 

Wm.  S.  Gates,  .  . 

Joshua  Leavitt,  . 
John  A.  Paine, 

Nays. 

Moses  Breck,    .     . 
David  Root,      .     . 
Levi  Stockbridge, 
Calvin  Pepper,  Jr. , 
T.  Fassett.* 
Israel  Smith. 
R.  Winslow. 
W.  B.  Sims. 
John  Alclen. 
A.  G.  Alden. 
S.  J.  Penniman. 
H.  Blackmore. 
A.  Stowell. 
S.  A.  Parmelee. 
William  Crapo. 
W.  Tillinghast, 
Geo.  Cuyler, 
Thomas  Little, 
E.  A.  Lambert, 
A.  Wheeler, 
Samuel  Lightbody 
John  Rhodes,    . 
R.  Wales,     .     . 
P.  A.  Moon, 
W.  H.  Seymour, 
II.  G.  Hayner,  . 


Exeter. 
Troy. 

Scoharie. 

Bloomfleld. 

Newark. 


—  4 


Northampton. 

<  < 

North  Hadley. 
Albany. 


Albany. 
New  York. 


Utica. 
Troy. 

a 
n 

it 


*  The  names  without  indication  of  residence  were  probably 
all  from  Albany  or  Troy.  From  the  latter  certainly  came 
two  leading  party  politicians,  one  a  whig  and  the  other  a 
democrat,  both  nays ! 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  2G5 

New  York,    .     .     Sam.  N.  Lawrence,   .     .     Troy. 

William  Stimpson,    .     .         " 
Charles  Sheldon,  ... 
N.  C.  P.  Ives,    ....     West  Troy. 
Gurclon  Grant, ....  " 

George  Brainercl. 
Uriah  Moore. 


33 


Among  the  yeas  were  men  who  had  plenty  of 
office  within  their  reach,  if  they  would  suppress 
their  humanity,  men  who  could  face  present  con- 
tempt and  ridicule  out  of  respect  to  themselves, 
—  and  among  the  nays  were  some  who  could  not. 
This  crisis  passed  successfully,  the  names  of 
James  Gillespie  Birxey,  and  Thomas  Earle 
were  inserted  in  the  second  Resolution,  which 
Mr.  Holley  had  reported  in  blank,  by  a  unanimous 
and  viva  voce  aye,  and  the  whole  series  was 
passed  as  reported  with  some  trifling  verbal 
amendments.  There  never  was  a  fairer  or  more 
patent  victory  of  good  temper  and  pure  reason 
over  the  stupid  vis  inertice  of  stereotyped  conser- 
vatism. It  seemed  as  if  the  broad  humanity  and 
sound  common  sense  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Re- 
public had  come  down  there. 

Liberty  Party  Resolutions  always  occupied 
space  enough  to  be  exhaustive  and  leave  no  escape 
for  a  "doughface."     This  admirable  series  is  too 


26fi  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

long  to  be  copied  here.  It  ought  to  have  dis- 
armed all  opposition  among  the  abolitionists,  for 
it  is  conceived  in  the  most  catholic  spirit,  and 
expresses  nothing  but  cordial  approbation  of  the 
moral  action  of  those  who  confined  themselves  to 
that.  But  I  cannot  abstain  from  copying  the 
preamble  to  the  nominating  Resolution,  which  is 
as  follows  : 

Whereas,  large  bodies  of  freemen,  in  the  United 
States,  have  adopted  the  pledge  embodied  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  American  Anti-Slaven'  Societ}',  "  to  do 
all  that  is  lawfull}'  in  our  power,  to  bring  about  the  ex- 
tinction of  slaveiy ;  " 

And  whereas,  a  National  Convention  of  Abolitionists 
holden  in  this  citjon  the  1st  of  August,  1839,  solemnly 
and  deliberately  resolved  that  they  would  neither  vote 
for,  nor  support  the  election  of  any  man  for  President 
or  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  who  is  not  in 
favor  of  the  immediate  abolition  of  slaveiy ;  And 
whereas,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Convention,  it  becomes 
the  anti-slavery  electors  of  our  country  to  unite  their 
votes  upon  well  qualified  candidates  for  these  high 
offices  at  the  ensuing  election,  and,  in  our  estimation, 
no  such  candidates  are  yet  nominated  and  none  are 
likely  to  be,  without  our  interference  ;  Therefore,  tie- 
solved,  That  we  owe  it  to  the  sacred  cause  of  human 
rights,  and  our  desire  to  advance  it  by  all  peaceful  and 
constitutional  means,  to  make  such  nomination,  &c. 

This  movement  of  Myron  Holley,  —  for  the 
Liberty  Party  was  practically  his  achievement,  — 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  26*7 

cannot  be  historically  appreciated  without  a  view 
of  the  cotemporary  public  opinion  and  feeling, 
which  can  only  be  learned  by  the  way  in  which 
the  public  press,  both  anti-slavery  and  pro-slaver}", 
religious  and  political,  received  it.  A  few  exam- 
ples out  of  hundreds  that  could  be  cited,  must 
suffice. 

It  is  with  pain  I  cite  the  expressions  of  the 
Liberator,  for  Mr.  Garrison  was  the  author  of  that 
most  weighty  and  imperative  sentence  which  Mr. 
Iiolley  quotes  in  the  first  clause  of  the  preamble 
to  his  first  resolution.  That  he  could  so  descend 
and  £0  back  on  those  who  would  follow  the  straight 
path  he  had  himself  so  nobly  and  clearly  marked 
out,  is  a  sad  proof  of  the  weakness  and  imper- 
fection of  human  nature. 

["  Liberator,"  Editorial,  April  3, 1S40.] 
'•Infidelity. — After  a  careful  examination  of  all 
the  reasons  wbieh  have  been  urged  in  favor  of  another 
political  part}*,  we  are  satisfied  that  the}'  spring  from  a 
lack  of  faith  in  God,  and  those  simple  instrumentalities 
which  it  is  His  good  pleasure  to  adopt  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  evil  and  the  salvation  of  the  world." 

["  Liberator,"  Editorial,  April  10,  18-10.] 
Albany  Convention.  —  By  vesterdav's  "  Abolition- 
isf'weare  furnished  with  an  account  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  soi-disant  National  (  !)  Convention,  which  was 


268  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

held  on  the  first  clay  of  April  at  Albany,  and  a  more 
ridiculous  farce  than  appears  to  have  been  enacted  on 
the  occasion,  in  the  nomination  of  presidential  candi- 
dates, we  have  never  had  occasion  to  place  on  record. 
As  we  prophesied,  in  point  of  numbers,  it  was  really 
contemptible.     Of  121  persons  who  enrolled  their  names 
on  the  occasion,  48  belonged  to  Albany,  and   104  to 
the  State   of  New  York.     There  was  1  from  Maine,  0 
from  N.  H.,  2  from  Vt.,  11  from  Massachusetts,  0  from 
Rhode  Island  !  1  from  Connecticut,  2  from  N.  J.  !  0  from 
Pa.  !  0  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan !  !  !  !      A 
National    Convention   forsooth !     Why  it  was    not   as 
large  as  a  common  village  meeting.     "Will  it  be  credited 
by  the  abolitionists  of  the  United  States  the   handful  of 
abolitionists  thus  brought  together  had  the  follv,  the 
presumption,  the  almost  unequalled  infatuation,  to  put 
candidates  in  nomination  in  their  behalf  for  the  Presi- 
dency and   Vice-Presidency  of  the  U.   S.l — namely, 
James  G.  Birney,  of  Kentucky,  and  Thos.  Earle,  of 
Pa.      This   nomination   was     sustained  —  Yeas,    44!! 
Na}Ts,  32  !  !     Majority,  11  !      But  we  are  compelled  to 
omit  all  comment  on  this  political  farce  in  our  present 
number.     "We    can   only  say,  that   the  reasons   which 
induced   Mr.    Birney  to  decline   a  similar   nomination 
made  a  short  time  since   still  exist  in  full  force.     We 
have  too  high  an  opinion  of  the  good  sense  and  sound 
discretion  of  himself  and  Mr.  Earle  to  believe  that  they 
will  consent  to  stand  —  nominated  as  the}T  have  been, 
in  fact,  b}r  a  majority  of  only  eleven  persons. 

Mr.  Garrison  here  appears  to  have  mistaken 
the  vote  on  the  question  of  nominating  for  the  vote 
on  the  candidates.     Though  the  Convention  was 


LIBERTY    TARTY.  209 

divided   on  the  propriety  of  nominating,  it  was 
quite  unanimous  in  the  choice  of  candidates.    - 

The  Boston  "Daily  Advertiser"  of  April  8, 
1840,  with  its  proverbial  promptitude,  gave  the 
news  of  the  nomination  of  Birney  and  Earle  on  the 
first  of  April,  with  these  significant  remarks, 
showing  how  anxious  the  great  parties  of  that  day 
were  to  keep  clear  of  all  taint  of  abolitionism. 

""We  are  happy  to  learn  that  the  abolitionists  have 
resolved  to  support  their  own  candidates  for  the  presi- 
dency. The}'  are  surel}"  not  wanted  as  adjuncts  of  the 
Whig  party.  ...  It  will  now  be  distinctly  understood 
that  the  abolitionists  are  not  Whigs.  They  have  political 
objects  of  their  own  to  promote,  entirety  at  variance 
with  those  of  the  Whig  party."  * 

*  The  Boston  Whigs  in  1840  were  glad  enough  to  see  abol- 
itionists opposed  to  separate  political  action,  for  if  they  did  not 
get  for  Harrison  and  Tyler  all  the  white  abolition  votes  they 
got  nearly  all  the  colored  ones.  But  their  ingratitude  for 
this  political  aid  soon  showed  itself  in  a  remarkable  manner. 
On  the  death  of  Pres.  Harrison  the  Mayor  invited  ' '  all  citizens  " 
to  join  in  a  public  funeral  procession  in  his  honor.  The 
colored  citizens  who  had  been  allowed  to  vote  for  him,  at  once 
met,  appointing  a  marshal,  and  offered  to  join  the  procession 
in  a  body.  The  Mayor,  Mr.  Chapman,  and  the  Chief  Marshal, 
Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  under  the  apprehension  that  such  a  pro- 
ceeding would  excite  a  mob,  endeavored  in  vain  to  dissuade 
them.  At  last  Mr.  Quincy  sent  to  their  Marshal,  Mr.  Alex- 
ander, the  following  curious  note  : — 

"  City  Hall,  Tuesday,  April  20,  1841. 
"If  the  colored  citizens  intend  to  appear  as  an  organized 
body,  they  will  take  position  in  rear  of  ward  Xo.  12. 

"Josiah  Quincy,  Jr., 

"  Chief  Marshal." 


270  MYRON    IIOLLEY. 

But  the  most  amusing  expression  of  opinion  was 
that  of  the  great  Whig  organ  at  Washington,  the 
"National  Intelligencer,"  which  attempted  to  make 
the  country  believe  that  the  Liberty  Party  was 
plotted  by  Van  Buren  to  debilitate  the  Whigs  at 
the  North. 

["  National  Intelligencer,"  Editorial,  April  7,  1840.] 
"A man  might  as  well  whistle  in  a  whirlwind,  and 
expect  to  be  heard,  as  expect  the  people  in  the  north 
now  to  contend  for  abolition  in  the  South,  when  there  is 
nowhere  such  a  need  of  abolition  as  in  the  North  itself, 
prostrated  as  is  its  trade,  and  chained  as  are  all  its 
energies  by  the  power  of  the  federal  office  holders. 
This  last  device  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  regain  New  York, 
and  to  recover  Massachusetts,  will  turn  out  to  be  as 
contemptible  as  it  is  ridiculous.  Indeed  the  abolition- 
ists themselves  laugh  at  it."  * 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  colored  citizens,  who  chiefly  be- 
longed to  the  Beacon  Hill  Ward,  No.  6 ,  declined  this  Negro  Pew 
arrangement,  and  those  who  ventured  to  take  their  proper 
places  in  the  procession,  as  unorganized,  were,  as  the  Mayor 
and  Marshal  predicted,  ignominiously  mobbed  oft\  At  the 
next  Presidential  election  they  took  care  to  vote  the  Liberty 
Ticket. 

*  This  arrogance  of  the  old  parties  prompted  the  following 
lines,  which  appeared  in  Win.  Goodell's  "  Friend  of  Man". 
showing  that  the  little  sprout  was  not  to  be  discouraged  by 
huge  trunks  that  were  rotten  at  the  core. 

Liberty  Party. 
Will  3re  despise  the  acorn, 

Just  thrusting  out  its  shoot, 
Ye  giants  of  the  forest, 

That  strike  the  deepest  root  ? 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  271 

This  was  the  Intelligencer's  way  of  calming  and 
quieting  the  whigs  of  the  south,  who  had  been  so 
much  alarmed  by  the  speech  of  Henry  Clay  the 
year  before  that  they  were  almost  ready,  in  their 
fright,  to  join  the  ?* Democratic"  or  Administra- 
tion party,  as  the  surest  defence  of  slavery.  Its 
logic,  however,  was  too  '  childlike  and  bland  "  to 
have  any  considerable  efiect.  With  the  aid  of 
those  abolitionists  who  were  more  ultra  than 
practical,  the  Whig  party  stood  firm  both  at  the 

Will  ye  despise  the  streamlet 

Upon  the  mountain  side, 
Ye  broad  and  mighty  rivers 

On-sweeping  to  the  tide? 

Wilt  thou  despise  the  crescent, 

That  trembles,  newly  born, 
Thou  bright  and  peerless  planet, 

The  queen  of  eve  and  morn? 

Time  now  his  scythe  is  whetting, 

Ye  giant  oaks  for  you  ; 
Ye  floods,  the  sea  is  thirsting 

To  drink  you  bike  the  dew. 

That  crescent,  pale  and  trembling, 

Her  lamp  shall  nightly  trim, 
Till  thou,  imperious  planet, 

Shalt  in  her  light  grow  dim. 

And  so  shall  wax  the  party, 

Xow  feeble  in  its  birth, 
Till  liberty  shall  cover 

This  tyrant-ridden  earth. 


272  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

north  and  the  south,  till  the  next  presidential 
campaign,  when  Mr.  Van  Buren's  plot,  if  such  it 
was,  not  only  defeated  his  great  rival,  Henry 
Clay,  but  sent  Mr.  Van  Buren  himself  home  to 
Kinderhook,  there  to  meditate  himself  into  some 
degree  of  fitness  to  be  the  Free  Soil  candidate  of 
1848.  It  had  been  the  -cherished  plan  of  the  great 
whig  slaveholders  of  the  south  to  cement  the 
slave  power  and  the  national  bank  power,  and  by 
controlling    both    to    control    the     nation.     But 

That  paiiy,  as  we  term  it, — 

The  party  of  the  whole  — 
Has  for  its  firm  foundation 

The  substance  of  the  soul. 

It  groweth  out  of  reason, 

The  strongest  soil  below  ; 
The  smaller  is  its  budding, 

The  more  its  room  to  grow. 

Then  rally  to  its  banners, 

Supported  by  the  true, 
The  weakest  are  the  waning, 

The  many  or  the  few. 

Of  what  is  small  but  living, 
God  makes  himself  the  nurse, 

While  "  Onward"  cry  the  voices 
Of  all  his  universe. 

Our  plant  is  of  the  cedar, 

That  knoweth  not  decay  ; 
Its  growth  shall  bless  the  mountains 

Till  mountains  pass  away. 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  373 

General  Jackson  had  exploded  a  torpedo  under 
the  National  Bank,  and  the  chief  object  of  the 
Whig  campaign  of  1840  was  to  repair  that 
mischief,  and  the  north  was  realty  made  to  believe 
that  the  destruction  of  the  Biddle  Bank  monopoly, 
and  not  the  depravity  of  its  ally,  the  slave  system, 
was  the  cause  of  the  miserably  hard  times  which 
then  prevailed.  The  slave-ridden  south  was 
always  the  hot-bed  of  bankruptcy,  and  the  north 
at  last  learned  that  when  better  times  came,  they 
came  from  western  rather  than  southern  trade,  as 
abolitionists  always  taught.  Only  those  who  paid 
fair  wages  were  good  customers. 

The  grand  argument,  inside  the  anti-slavery 
ranks  as  well  as  outside  —  and  especially  in  the 
churches  — against  party  political  action  was,  that 
it  "let  down  the  moral  sublimity  of  the  cause." 
How  much  more  it  did  so  than  voting  for  the  least 
pro-slavery  of  two  thoroughly  pro-slavery  candi- 
dates, was  never  shown.  Wm.  Goodell,  editor  of 
the  Friend  of  Man,  was  one  of  the  earliest  aboli- 
tionists, and  one  of  the  most  sincerely  religious 
persons,  remaining  so  till  his  death,  and  always 
an  admiring  friend  of  Mr.  Garrison.  His  testi- 
mony as  to  the  origin  of  the  Liberty  party  is,  of 
course,  valuable.     He  said  in  the  Fifth  Annual 


274  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

Report  of  the  N.  Y.  State  Anti-Slavery  Society, 

of  which  he  was  secretary,  Sept.,  1840: 

"Among  those  who  were  the  most  early  and  decided 
in  recommending  the  polic}T  of  independent  nominations, 
were  the  editors  of  three  anti-slavery  papers,  whose 
arguments  and  views  exerted  a  well-deserved  influence 
on  the  anti-slavery  community.  Myron  Holley,  of  the 
Rochester  Freeman,  (which  our  western  friends  would 
have  done  well  to  have  sustained),  Joshua  Leavitt,  of 
the  Emancipator,  New  York,  and  Elizur  "Wright,  Jr.,* 
then  of  the  Massachusetts  Abolitionist,  Boston, —  these 
were  among  the  prominent  writers  by  whom  the  new 
policy  was  vindicated  and  recommended.  Our  own 
paper,  the  Friend  of  Man,  has  been  open  to  the  discus- 
sion from  the  first,  admitting  freely  and  impartially  the 
principal  writers  on  both  sides,  but  taking  no  decisive 
editorial  stand  in  favor  of  the  measure  until  some  time 
last  spring." 

But  no  man  did  more  than  the  modest  and 
laborious  William  Goodell  to  sustain  the  "  moral 
sublimity  "  of  the  Anti-Slavery  cause.  Reviewing 
an  Address  of  the  Managers  of  the  Massachusetts 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  in  which  the  Liberty  Party 
was  criticized  in  a  tone  pretty  nearly  bordering  on 
cant,  he  wrote  : 

"  The  managers  say,  by  nominating  abolition  candi- 
dates we  shall  let  down  the  ' '  moral  sublimit}^ "  of  our 

*  The  "  Jr."  was  dropped  at  the  death  of  his  father  in  1845, 
and  he  himself  had  been  dropped  from  the  Abolitionist  prior 
to  April  1,  1840. 


LIBERTY    PARTY.  275 

enterprise.  We  ought  to  "  shun  the  very  appearance 
of  evil"  —  alluding  to  the  sacred  text,  1  Thes.  v.  22, 
"Abstain  from  all  appearance  of  evil"  Here  we  protest 
against  the  interpretation.  The  Apostle's  own  Greek 
phrase,  we  think,  means  only,  Abstain  from  every  sort 
of  evil.  But  if  it  must  be  translated  appearance,  it  is 
that  which  appears  evil  to  oneself,  and  not  to  the  world. 
The  common  interpretation  does  not  hold  true  in 
morals.  It  is  by  no  means  our  duty  to  abstain  from 
everything  which  appears  to  be  evil  to  others,  while  it 
seems  right  to  ourselves.  The  fashion  of  the  world  in 
wrong  in  this  respect.  We  care  too  much  about  our 
appearance;  what  others  say  of  us  and  our  motives  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  we  are  too  read}r  (is  it  prompted 
b}~  our  self-knowledge?)  to  condemn  the  motives  of 
others.  If  a  third  party  really  is  the  best  wa}r,  as  it  is 
confessedly  a  rightful  one,  to  knock  off  our  brother's 
chains,  and  we  take  it,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  the  pro- 
slavery  public  may  say  of  us  what  the}'  will,  they  will 
certainly  think  none  the  less  highly  of  our  "  moral 
sublimity.'*  Indeed,  what  is  that  moral  sublimity  good 
for,  if  it  cannot  sacrifice  its  reputation  for  sanctity,  and 
incur  the  odium  of  the  tyrannical  and  the  inhuman,  in 
order  to  seize  the  best  means  of  accomplishing  its 
object  ?  But  we  suspect  there  is  a  little  self-righteous- 
ness to  be  sacrificed.  Have  we  not  set  a  rather  hurh. 
value  on  our  own  purity?  Is  it,  after  all,  anything 
very  much  out  of  the  reach  of  common  saintship  to 
wish  to  see  our  own  countrymen  more  free  and  our 
country  relieved  from  disgrace  ?  We  incline  to  think 
not,  but  that  an  immense  majorit}-  in  the  free  states 
may  be  brought  to  the  same  "  moral  sublimity  "  by  the 
right  lead" 


276  MYRON   HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

OX    THE    STUMP. 

A  certain  species  of  political  oratory,  better 
known  in  this  country  than  any  other,  takes  its 
name  from  the  fact  that  in  our  western  states  the 
stump  of  a  large  tree  frequently  became  the  pulpit 
or  rostrum  from  which  a  candidate  for  office  or  a 
political  adept  addressed  his  fellow  citizens.  From 
the  time,  in  1838,  when  Mr.  Holiey  declined  to 
accept  office  from  the  Whigs,  on  the  condition  of 
being  gagged  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  he  was 
much  on  the  stump,  besides  editing  the  Rochester 
Freeman,  a  weekly  sheet  specially  devoted  to  the 
abolition  cause.  From  the  first  he  held  that  anti- 
slavery  sentiment  must  make  itself  a  political 
channel,  or  fail  of  any  effect.  And  wherever  any 
anti-slavery  sentiment  existed,  Lus  addresses  pro- 
duced conviction.  It  was  this  conviction,  widely 
extended  by  him,  that  effected  the  nomination,  on 
the  first  of  April,  1840.  In  him  there  was  no 
faltering  or  despondency  about  the  result.  He 
labored  in  a  hope,  not  born  of  feverish  enthusiasm, 


ON   THE    STUMP.  277 

but  cool  judgment.  He  had  a  distinct  vision  of 
the  means  as  well  as  the  end.  Writing  from 
Rochester  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Beaumont,  who 
was  then  living  in  Lyons,  in  March,  1839,  he 
says  :  —  "Anti-slavery  sentiments  seem  slowly  to 
be  gaining  ground  in  all  the  north,  and  they  are 
undoubtedly  producing  effects  favorable  to  aboli- 
tion in  all  the  union.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
slavery  will  be  abolished  in  North  America  within 
twenty  years.  If  the  slave  states  are  wise  or 
prudent  they  will,  before  that  lapse  of  time, 
abolish  peaceably,  and  if  they  will  not,  the  first 
war  that  shall  occur  between  our  country  and  any 
considerable  foreign  power  will  compel  a  bloody 
abolition.  I  pray  this  may  be  prevented."  He 
goes  right  on  to  speak  to  his  "  dear  Tatty,"  as  he 
called  her,  of  his  own  labors.  "  I  have  often 
thought  with  some  mortification  of  my  lecture 
delivered  when  I  was  last  at  Lyons.  The  pleasant 
society  which  I  enjoyed  all  the  day  with  my 
children  and  grand-children  absorbed  me  so  much 
during  the  day  that  in  truth  I  was  very  ill-prepared 
to  give  a  lecture.  But  I  thought  the  few  aboli- 
tionists at  Lyons  wanted  sympathy  and  encourage- 
ment, and  that  by  coming  out  as  I  did,  I  should 
somewhat    strengthen    their   faith  and    fortitude. 


278  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

Odium,  misrepresentation  and  persecution  have 
ever  awaited  those  who  set  themselves  earnestly 
to  cast  off  great  abuses.  So  many  men  of  wealth, 
intelligence  and  influence  have  their  feelings, 
habits  and  prospects  thoroughly  mingled  up  with 
great  social  abuses,  that  whoever  exposes,  resists 
and  seeks  to  overthrow  the  abuses,  must  expect 
trouble.  And  if  they  have  not  a  faith  and  firm- 
ness leading  even  to  martyrdom,  if  need  be,  the 
reform  will  not  be  carried." 

Notwithstanding  this  modest  self-depreciation, 
no  doubt  the  "  few  abolitionists  of  Lyons  "  were 
encouraged  when  they  saw  the  gentleman  who  had 
given  them  their  canal,  and  whom  they  well  knew 
to  be  the  wisest  man  in  the  state,  standing  by  them- 
Here  was  a  man  who  could  show  them  how  to  do 
as  well  as  to  think  and  feel. 

Never  did  he  lecture  without  inspiring  action, 
which  always  implies  hope.  After  the  nomina- 
tion, he  gave  himself  to  the  work  of  the  stump 
with  the  full  spirit  of  martyrdom,  seemingly  well 
aware  that  he  was  crowding  ten  or  twenty  years 
of  life  into  one,  and  that  the  Liberty  vote  to  be 
gained  was  worth  the  cost. 

The  little  despised  Liberty  Party  was  very  far 
from   commanding    the    sinews    of  •  political    war 


ON    THE    STUMP.  279 

which  a  party  wielding  the  anti-slavery  sentiment 
of  the  country  should  have  had.  It  resolved  to 
establish  a  daily  paper  in  Albany  as  its  orpin,  and 
after  much  delay  it  was  done  in  a  small  way,  the 
martyr  Charles  T.  Torrey  becoming  its  first  editor. 
The  best  it  could  do  was  to  promise  $40  a  month 
to  keep  Mr.  Holley  in  the  lecture  field.  And  on 
that  slender  stipend  he  labored  with  the  vigor  of 
a  Hercules  through  all  the  months  succeeding  the 
nomination  till  the  election.  In  writing  to  his 
son  William  who  had  fallen  sick  in  Buffalo,  in 
September,  he  reveals  the  effect  of  these  labors 
upon  his  health,  as  well  as  the  manner  of  them. 
"We  want  very  much  to  be  with  you  in  vour  dis- 
tress,  and  regret  that  our  situation  and  means, 
at  present,  forbid  it.  TTe  should  like  to  hear 
further  particulars,  and  if  you  are  not  getting 
better  or  are  growing  worse,  your  mother  will 
come  out  if  possible.  I  am  now  en^a^ed  in  serv- 
ing  the  anti-slavery  cause,  and  get  forty  dollars  a 
month,  which  is  better  than  nothing.  I  find, 
however,  that  speaking  so  much  as  I  have  occasion 
to  do,  or  something  else,  has  given  me  a  pain  in 
my  breast  and  reduced  me  below  good  working 
condition.  Yet  I  must  persevere.  I  start  away 
from   home    (Rochester)    again  to  day. 


280  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

A  few  clays  ago  I  was  within  eleven  miles  of 
Buffalo  passing  from  Aurora  to  Fredonia,  and  I 
wished  amazingly  to  come  there,  not  knowing 
however  that  any  of  you  were  sick,  but  I  had  not 
an  hour  to  spare,  and  tore  myself  on  westerly." 

From  this  "  pain  in  the  breast "  he  did  not  re- 
cover. His  speaking  or  "  something  else "  had 
exhausted  his  vitality  and  sleep  did  not  restore  it. 
That  fe  something  else  "  was  parti}'  the  excessive 
fatigue  of  constant  travelling,  for  at  that  day 
the  railroad  system,  with  its  multitudinous 
branches,  hardly  existed.  In  the  Empire  State 
there  were  not  then  500  miles  of  railroad  where 
now  there  are  more  than  5,000 ;  for  the  Cen- 
tral was  not  opened  from  Schenectady  to  Buf- 
falo till  1841,  and  the  Erie  reached  only  from 
Piermont  to  Goshen.  As  to  the  fatigue  of  travel, 
it  is  easier  to  stump  all  the  northern  states  now 
than  the  single  state  of  New  York  then.  But 
it  was  mostly  the  deep  thought  and  sense  of 
responsibility  which  exhausted  him.  It  is  only 
sleep  which  restores  the  thinking  power  of  the  brain, 
and  the  sleeping-car  had  not  yet  been  invented. 
The  best  and  soundest  thinking  is  done  directly 
after  sound  natural  sleep  in  pure  air.  If  the  air 
of  the  sleer>in<r-car  could  be   kept  fresh  and  free 


ON   THE    STUMP*  281 

from  dust,  perhaps,  by  virtue  of  the  vibration,  it 
would  be  the  best  sleeping  place  in  the  world. 
Mr.  Holley  was  naturally  a  good  sleeper.  He 
never  disturbed  that  important  faculty  by  stimul- 
ants or  narcotics,  —  those  pests  which  are  filling 
the  world  with  insanity,  —  for  he  never  took  any- 
thing stronger  than  a  single  cup  of  coffee  in  the 
morning.  To  this  undoubtedly  his  farsightedness, 
equanimity  and  steady  persistence  may  be  largely 
attributed. 

Mr.  Holler's  lectures,  it  must  be  remembered, 
were  never  superficial.  He  had  a  great  fund  of 
humor,  and  power  to  amuse  any  audience,  but  he 
confined  it  to  the  parlor,  or  the  company  in  a 
stage  coach,  or  packet  boat.  Before  an  audience 
in  a  hall,  few  or  many,  whatever  his  subject,  he 
went  to  the  bottom  of  it  as  thoroughly  as  if  he  were 
addressing  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  And 
if  there  was  in  that  audience  any  thinking  power, 
he  set  it  in  action.  His  appeal  was  never  to  pre- 
judice —  no  vituperation  —  no  personality  —  no 
sarcasm  —  but  a  mountainous  accumulation  of  un- 
questionable facts  laid  directly  at  the  door  of 
practical  common  sense.  The  early  years  of  the 
anti-slavery  cause  were  full  of  oratory,  —  the  bare 
names  of  the  orators  would  fill  a  page, —  in  which 


282  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

irony,  denunciation,  invective,  ridicule,  wit,  blis- 
tering satire  and  indignant  rebuke  conspired  to  pro- 
duce philippics  as  much  grander  than  that  of  Dem- 
osthenes as  the  object  was  more  deserving  of  them. 
Witness  the  speeches  of  that  giant  of  the  New  York 
bar,  Alvan  Stewart,  who,  presiding  at  an  anti- 
slavery  meeting  in  Utica  in  1835,  tossed  the  leader 
of  a  mob  of  respectable  citizens,  who  invaded  the 
church  and  penetrated  to  the  pulpit  where  he  sat, 
to  break  up  the  meeting,  down  on  to  the  crowd  of 
his  followers  below,  and  then  coolly  put  the  reso- 
lutions of  the  meeting  to  the  vote  which  formed  the 
New  York  State  Anti-Slavery  Society.  Witness 
the  speech  of  the  young  Wendell  Phillips 
when  he  burst  out  on  that  "recreant"  New  Eng- 
lancler,  Hon.  James  T.  Austin,  Attorney  General 
of  the  Commonwealth,  who  dared  in  Fanueil  Hall 
to  class  the  fiends  who  murdered  Lovejoy  with 
the  men  who  threw  the  tea  overboard  in  Boston 
Harbor.  Here  was  a  king  of  Macedon,  face  to 
face,  surrounded  by  his  grim  myrmidons,  defam- 
ing the  fathers  of  our  republic.  The  young 
Demosthenes  rose,  pointed  to  their  pictures  on 
the  Avails,  and  said,  "I  thought  while  he  was 
speaking  those  pictured  lips  would  have  broken 
into  voice,  to  rebuke  the  recreant  American  — the 


OX    THE    STUMP.  283 

slanderer  of  the  dead."  ''Take  back  that  word," 
howled  the  liveried  slaves  of  slavery.  Xo.  He 
went  on,  and  the  plaudits  shook  the  old  Cradle  of 
Liberty  as  it  was  never  shaken  before.  The 
words  of  the  orator  were  true  in  the  grandest 
sense,  —  the  earth  did  open  and  swallow  Austin. 
All  this,  every  breath  of  it,  and  more  of  the  same 
sort,  was  necessary  to  rouse  the  people  from  their 
fatal  lethargy.  But  there  was  another  sort,  per- 
haps fully  as  effective,  and  it  was  even  earlier. 
As  far  back  as  1832  there  was  a  young  "divinity 
student "  who  hated  slavery  in  every  shape, 
whether  it  was  the  lash  or  the  bottle  that  produced 
it.  He  had  the  natural  gift  of  eloquence  to  such 
a  decree  that  when  he  talked  against  alcohol,  deal- 
ers  went  home,  rolled  the  whiskey  barrels  out  of 
the  back  door  and  knocked  in  the  heads.  "When 
he  talked  about  negro  slavery  in  an  Alabama 
parlor,  James  G.  Birney  became  an  abolitionist 
and  liberated  his  slaves.  He  it  was  that  revolu- 
tionized Lane  Seminary  against  the  opposing 
power  of  its  president,  the  great  father  of  the 
Beechers,  and  sent  nearly  all  its  students  to 
Oberlin,  which  became  a  celebrated  station  on 
the  underground  railroad.  He  it  was  who,  in  a 
course  of  lectures   in   Steubenville,   Ohio,  put  so 


284  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

much  abolitionism  into  a  young  democratic  law 
student,  who  attended  to  refute  him,  that  he  held 
his  peace  on  the  subject  till  he  became  Lincoln's 
Secretary  of  War  in  1861.  Perhaps  if  Judge  J. 
Black  had  attended  that  course,  it  would  have 
saved  him  from  making  a  deplorable  donkey  of 
himself.  And  shall  I  forget  "Carolina's  hifdi- 
souled  daughter,"  who  afterwards  became  the 
excellent  wife  of  the  orator  just  mentioned  ?  She, 
soon  after  the  first  mobs  and  before  the  murder  of 
Lovejoy,  kindled  coals  in  the  Legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts, in  spite  of  the  freezing  mixtures  of 
election  sermons  and  the  awful  frowns  of  the 
clergy.  The  names  of  these  will  be  remembered 
without  marble.*  Mr.  Holley's  stump  oratory 
was  of  the  same  sort.  It  seems  to  me  impossible 
to  believe  that  if  one  hundred  leading  men  of  the 
South,  including  John  C.  Calhoun  and  Jefferson 
Davis,  could  have  listened  to  him  for  two  hours, 
there  would  ever  have  been  a  Mexican  War  or  a 
Southern  Confederacy. 

*  After  voice  and  health  failed  this  eloquent  pair,  they 
settled  at  Fort  Lee,  on  the  Hudson,  for  a  while,  and  there 
compiled  from  a  vast  stack  of  southern  newspapers  that  ter- 
rific pamphlet,  "  Slavery  as  it  is;  on,  The  Testimony  of 
1,000  Witnesses,"  which  was  the  precursor,  and  afterwards 
the  justiiication,  of  Mrs.  Stowe's  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 


HIS   HOMES.  285 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


HIS     HOMES. 


The  homes  of  <rreat  and  srood  citizens,  whether 
the  first  or  the  last,  are  the  most  sacred  places  on 
earth.  They  are  apt  not  to  be  so  durable  as  those 
of  tyrants  and  oppressors.  The  world  did  not  begin 
much  to  admire  the  genius  of  Homer  till  it  had 
forgotten  in  what  city  he  was  born.  Yet  his  name 
and  his  fame  ma}'  outlast  the  pyramids.  The 
homes  and  habits  of  Cadmus  are  not  known. 
"Would  we  not  give  as  much  to  know  them  as  to 
see  the  Colosseum  or  the  Vatican  ?  It  is  rather 
painful  and  depressing  to  behold  a  grand  house, 
built  by  a  small,  ignoble,  or  detestable  man,  whose 
name  would  otherwise  have  been  forgotten :  or  a 
magnificent  cathedral,  which  was  built  and  pre- 
sided over  by  some  cold-hearted  inquisitor,  whose 
gaudy  garments  smelt  of  the  smoke  of  burnt 
heretics  ;  but  who  does  not  feel  his  heart  warmed 
and  enlarged  by  looking  on  the  home-picture  on 


286  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

which   the    eyes    of   a  Howard  or  a  Shakespeare 
rested  with  delight? 

Much  do  I  wish  that  I  could  show  my  kind 
readers,  in  the  present  beautiful  style  of  the 
graphic  art,  the  house  where  Myron  Holley  was 
born,  the  four  which  he  himself  successively  built 
for  his  family,  and  the  last  one  where  his  dust 
now  reposes,  built  for  him  by  the  kind  hand  of 
mother  Nature  in  one  of  her  sweetest  groves,  and 
beautified  by  the  gratitude  of  the  little  band  of 
Liberty  Party  Abolitionists  three  or  four  years 
after  his  death.     I  can  but  point  out  the  spots. 

It  was  as  early  as  1821  that  Mr.  Holley  re- 
moved his  wife  and  ten  children  from  their  pleas- 
ant home  in  Canandaigua  to  Lyons,  where  he  had 
provided  a  spacious  double  house,  two  stories 
high,  on  the  main  street,  with  doubtless  all  the 
then  modern  improvements.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  his  good  father  was  a  man  of  consider- 
able wealth,  and  that  his  Canandaigua  property 
was  desirable.  He  could  well  afford  to  live  in  a 
good  house. 

Lyons  is  hardly  less  beautiful  than  Canandaigua. 
It  has  exceedingly  fertile  hills,  of  easy  ascent,  but 
with  wide  and  charming  views  of  valley  scenery. 
It  is  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  river  Clyde, 


HIS    HOMES.  287 

an  affluent  of  the  Seneca,  formed  by  the  junction  of 
Mud  Creek  from  the  west,  and  Flint  Creek,  bear- 
ing the  waters  of  Canaudaiirua  Lake,  from  the 
southwest.  Either  of  these  would  be  considered 
respectable  rivers  in  England  or  Scotland  —  they 
only  lack  a  Burns  to  be  so  here. 

After  his  reverse  in  the  canal  business  had 
'  obliged  him  to  make  the  most  of  his  resources,  he 
built  a  cozy  stone  cottage  on  Phelps  Street,  in  a 
less  aristocratic  portion  of  the  town,  called  Joppa, 
situated  in  a  five-acre  fruit-garden,  where  he 
cultivated  quince  and  mulberry  trees,  and  where 
his  family  lived  while  he  was  editing  in  Lyons  and 
in  Hartford. 

I  am  told  it  was  of  this  home  that  a  Canan- 
daigua  poet,  rejoicing  in  the  name  of  Zebulun 
Barton  Stout,  wrote  some  verses,  published  in  the 
local  papers,  and  addressed  to  "Mrs.  Holley, 
Miss  Lawrence  and  Miss  Holley."  The  sense 
and  spirit  are  rather  more  conspicuous  than  the 
polish  or  finish,  but  those  who  complain  of  this 
rustic  bard,  should  show  they  know  how  to  give 
his  worthy  subject  a  worthier  treatment.  Amer- 
ican poets  have  never  yet  done  justice  to  American 
trees. 


288  MYRON    HOLLEV. 

On  the  green  margin  of  the  peaceful  stream, 

Which  winds  its  way  through  Lyons'  charming  vale; 

Stand  three  tall  Elms  —  and  nobler  trees,  I  deem 
Ne'er  waved  their  heads  to  heaven's  salubrious  gale ; 

Their  spreading  branches  with  thick  foliage  crowned, 
Partly  obstruct  a  view,  admired  by  all ; 

And  thoughtlessly  was  a  decision  found, 
The  ancient  sturdy  Elms  should  straightway  fall. 

But  ere  the  impious  axeman  gave  the  blow, 
A  voice  unearthly  murmured  in  the  breeze ; 

The  spirit  of  the  woods,  in  accents  low, 

Thus  sighed  a  prayer,  amid  the  trembling  trees  : 

Hold,  woodman  !  know  these  venerable  elms, 
The  wintry  storms  of  ages  have  withstood ; 

False  is  the  taste,  and  cruel,  which  condemns 
The  stately  Elm,  the  pride  of  every  wood. 

E'er  in  this  vale  the  white  man  durst  appear, 

These  verdant  branches  spread  their  summer  shade 

O'er  many  an  Indian  hunter  loitering  here, 
O'er  many  a  beauteous,  tawny,  forest  maid. 

The  Elms,  a  monument,  then,  woodman  spare, 
Of  the  lost  race,  to  tell  that  they  have  been; 

Their  solemn  dirge  shall  mournful  winds  declare, 
Dews  wept  from  leaves,  the  tribute  grief  begin. 

And  when  the  morning  sunshine  shall  exhale 
These  Nature's  tears,  for  Nature's  children  shed, 

As  through  their  boughs  light  winds  prevail, 

They'll  cheer  the  living  while  they  mourn  the  dead. 

In  future,  oft  shall  village  youths  repair, 

And  lovelier  damsels  grace  the  jocund  train; 

Then,  woodman,  grant  this  happier  race  to  share 
These  blessed  shades.     Oh,  let  the  Elms  remain  ! 


HIS    HOMES.  289 

Lost  were  these  strains  upon  the  woodman's  ear, 
Had  not  two  blooming  maidens  joined  their  voice, 

In  intercession  sweet,  with  hearts  sincere, 
And  begged  the  trees  might  live.     They  live.     Rejoice. 

Thus  wayward  man  can  slight  a  voice  from  heaven, 

Yet  woman's  pleadings  joyfully  obey; 
Woman,  to  thee  the  magic  charm  is  given, 

At  once  to  serve,  yet  bear  enchanting  sway. 

This  village  has  a  dwelling  named  Content,  — 
In  front,  a  dark  green  maple  woodland  grows, 

Beneath  whose  shade,  in  graceful  curvings  bent, 

Erie's  canal  in  silent  grandeur  flows. 

* 
'Tis  sweet  to  mark  at  evening's  pensive  hour, 

Amid  the  grove,  the  dccklights  glide  along; 

Or  listen, — lulled  with  music's  soothing  power, — 

To  the  shrill  bugle,  or  the  boatman's  song. 

Health  to  this  mansion,  long  may  joy  and  love, 
And  blue-eyed  hope,  its  smiling  bowers  adorn  ; 

Each  sun  returning  o'er  the  dark  green  grove, 
Forever  waken  still  a  happier  morn. 

Around  this  home  of  *  Content "  Mr.  Holley's 
married  daughters  were  then  settled,  and  he  him- 
self in  a  long  letter  to  Mrs.  Clarissa  Beaumont, 
dated  Hartford,  Sep.  21,  1834,  tells  how  and  why 
he  loved  it.  Notice  how  he  recognized  in  Nature 
a  commandment  more  effective  than  any  contained 
in  any  book.  After  expressing  the  longing  he 
felt,  after  nine  months  of  absence,  to  meet  again 
the  objects  of  his  "most  engrained  affections,"  he 
says  :  "  The  divine   wisdom  has    seen  it  best  to 


290  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

ordain  that  the  stream  of  love  should  flow  strongest 
dozen  the  current  of  life ;  and  so  has  made  it 
natural  that  parents  should  love  their  children 
more  than  children  should  love  their  parents.  If 
I  remember  right,  parents  are  not  commanded, 
anywhere  in  the  Scriptures,  to  love  their  children. 
This  most  necessary  and  most  efficacious  of  means 
of  compelling  human  beings  to  do  everything  in 
their  power  to  increase  and  secure  the  well-being 
of  their  race,  is  better  accomplished  by  ligaments 
round  the  heart  and  incapable  of  being  severed 
from  it,  than  it  could  possibly  be  by  any  words  — 
even  the  commands  of  the  Most  High.  They  are 
monsters  who  do  not  feel,  or  who  refuse  to  acknow- 
ledge, the  force  of  all  these  ligaments.  Every  day 
of  my  life  the  scenery  most  before  me  is  that  of  Ly- 
ons. And  the  society  I  most  enjoy  is  that  which 
gives  this  scenery  its  chief  interest.  Our  new  situa- 
tion, at  the  Quince  Orchard,  with  its  snug  comforts 
and  unfinished  but  promising  accompaniments,  — 
the  place  you  occupy,  with  its  tasteful,  convenient, 
and  multiplied  means  of  enjoyment, — Caroline's 
domicil  with  all  its  agreeable  associations,  and 
Elizabeth's  nice  establishment  by  the  river,  are 
almost  constantly  before  me,  in  all  their  peculiar 
features   and   distinguishing  attractions  ;  and  my 


HIS    HOMES.  201 

heart  is  filled,  sometimes  with  a  melancholy,  but 
more  often  with  a  cheerful  interest  in  the  living, 
and  moving,  and  immortal,  and  responsible,  and 
loving  beings,  who  fill  the  hisrh  places  of  all  this 
scenery,  and,  in  my  view,  concentrate  upon  it  the 
highest  social  delights  of  this  life,  and  twine  them- 
selves  inseparably  with  all  my  most  solemn  and 
most  precious  anticipations  of  the  future." 

Yet,  though  he  had  achieved  for  Lyons  the 
"  silent  grandeur  "  of  the  canal  which  "  Hows  "  so 
lovingly  by  it,  had  made  Wayne  a  county  *  and 

*  In  those  earl}*  clays,  whenever  a  new  county  was  to  be  set 
off  from  one  already  established,  there  was  generally  a  stub- 
born resistance  from  those  whose  power  was  to  be  diminished. 
I  quote  the  following  letter  for  two  reasons  ;  first,  to  show 
what  Lyons  owed  to  Mr.  Hollcy,  and  second,  how  DeWitt 
Clinton's  plan  of  having  the  Erie  Canal  duly  celebrated,  in  a 
book  of  the  greatest  possible  scientific,  economical,  pictorial 
and  historical  interest,  written  by  Mr.  Holley  himself,  fell 
through,  because  in  the  midst  of  his  preparation  for  it,  he, 
Clinton,  was  stupidly  removed  from  the  Canal  Board. 

Albany,  15  April,  1823. 

Dear  Ser,  — I  was  disappointed  in  not  seeing  you  before 
your  departure  from  this  place. 

I  have  received  a  letter  from  the  bookseller  in  New  York, 
[A.  V.  Goodrich  &  Co.]  declining  the  overture  I  made  on  ac- 
count of  circumstances  unconnected  with  any  objections  to 
the  merits  of  the  plan,  but  I  really  would  advise  you  to  pro- 
ceed and  execute  the  work,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  a 
liberal  remuneration  from  more  affluent  quarters. 

Mr.  Bouck  thinks  that  the  Canal  Board  ought  to  meet  at 
Buffalo  the  latter  end  of  May.     Will  you  let  me  know  your 


292  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

L}rons  the  capital  of  it,   he  was    not  to   stay  in 
Lyons. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Hartford,  seeing  that 
five  acres  of  quinces,  with  some  Chinese  and 
Italian  mulberry  trees,  would  not  sustain  a  large 
family,  he  repaired  to  Rochester,  then  the  centre 
of  the  great  milling  interest  and  crowing  to  be  a 
great  city.  From  some  hotel  there  we  have  a 
family  letter  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  George  King- 
man, then  residing  in  Lyons  : 

Rochester,  4  March,  1835. 

My  Dear  Elizabeth.  —  Your  present  of  apples  and 
cakes  came  ver}'  safe  by  George,  and  were  received 
with  great  delight  as  evidence  of  your  affectionate 
regard  for  me.  Besides  affording  me  a  little  supper 
last  evening,  the}'  enabled  me  to  be  properly  courteous 
to  Judge  E.  B.  Strong  and  Dr.  Smith,  who  called  at 
my  room  half  an  hour,  having  left  the  ball-room  occu- 
pied here  last  evening  for  that  purpose. 

George  informs  me  that  }tou  take  a  livery  interest  in 

opinion  in  order  that  I  may  select  the  most  acceptable  period? 
This,  however,  is  upon  a  supposition  that  the  present  Canal 
Board  will  continue.  I  learn  that  there  is  an  excitement 
against  you  on  account  of  the  new  county,  which  I  very  much 
regret.  As  to  myself,  I  think  it  almost  certain  that  an  at- 
tempt will  be  made  to  remove,  and  I  shall  certainly  feel 
no  mortification  at  its  success. 

I  am  sincerely, 

Your  friend, 

DeWitt  Clinton. 
M.  IIolley,  Esq. 


HIS   HOMES.  293 

Sail}',  and  wish  her  to  be  sent  to  Caroline's  in  Con- 
necticut for  a  3*ear.  This  might  be  very  useful  to  her, 
and  possibly  ma}'  take  place.  At  any  rate,  I  feel  very 
sensibly  obliged  by  the  sisterl}'  feeling  in  you  which  it 
indicates ;  and  am  very  much  gratified  by  the  interest 
manifested  by  George  in  such  an  arrangement.  I  shall 
think  of  it,  and  if  I  do  not  come  home  (probably  I 
shall)  before  the  canal  opens,  shall  write  further  on  this 
subject.  In  the  meantime,  I  cannot  sa}'that  the  proba- 
bility is  in  favor  of  her  going.  I  love  Sally  with  an 
affection  which  nothing  shall  or  can  ever  obliterate,  and 
hope  to  aid  her  advancement  in  life  more  hereafter 
than  I  have  been  able  to  for  some  years  past.  I  have  a 
project  of  business  here  which  looks  plausible  for  a  per- 
manent establishment.  If  it  can  be  compassed  on 
reasonable  terms,  it  promises  me  comfort,  and  1113'  fam- 
ily more  assistance  from  me  than  I  shall  be  ever  able  to 
render  them  in  any  other  wa3*  as  to  subsistence  and 
profit.  George  can  tell  3*011  what  it  is,  but  I  wish  it 
not  to  be  spoken  of  out  of  the  circle  of  nry  children. 
With  perfect  affection,  my  dear  Elizabeth, 

Your  abiding  friend, 

Myron  Holley. 

Kiss  Clare  and  little  George  for  me,  and  give  my  love 
to  Sam. 

It  does  not  seem  that  this  "project  of  business  " 
succeeded,  for  Mr.  Holley  bought  a  piece  of  land  — 
of  great  natural  beaut}'  and  fertility  —  on  the 
river,  a  little  below  Rochester,  where  he  built  a 
plain  commodious  house,  and  moved  his  family 


204  MYRON    IIOLLEY. 

into  it  before  Christmas,  though  it  was  not  quite 
finished.  From  that  place,  as  "  Eose  Eidge,"  he 
dates  his  beautiful  letters  for  the  next  three  years. 
The  spot  is  well  worth  going  to  see,  as  the  Gene- 
see, after  playing  Niagara  at  Eochester,  flows 
peacefully  through  a  deep  gorge  beneath  it. 
Nature  indulges  in  a  beautiful  shrubbery  of  arbor 
vltce  on  its  banks  *  Here  with  his  library,  his 
principal  room  on  the  ground  floor,  he  was  in 
his  element.  He  knew  how  to  get  as  much  out  of 
his  acres  as  any  man  could,  and  a  great  deal 
more  out  of  his  books.  I  must  here  give  the 
reader  the  residue  of  a  letter  to  his  daughter 
Caroline  at  Washington,  from  which  I  have  quoted 
in  a  previous  chapter  : 

Rose  Ridge,  23d  February,  1837. 

My  Dear  Caroline.  —  Your  mother  and  I  were 
very  much  pleased  to  read  a  very  interesting  letter 
which  you  addressed  to  her  yesterday  ;  and  as  the  time 
draws  near  when  you  will  leave  the  seat  of  government, 
I  lose  no  time  in  expressing  my  thanks  for  that  and  all 
the  other  evidences  of  your  affection  with  which  }~ou 
have  favored  us  this  winter.  I  received  the  play  of 
Bulwer  and  all  the  other  articles  and  documents  referred 
to  Iry  }Tou,  and  have  read  most  of  them  with  much  inter- 
est, and  feel,  indeed,  much  obliged  both  to  you  and  Mr. 
Chapin  for  them. 


HIS    HOMES.  295 

Bulwer's  pla\*.  I  think,  adds  nothing  to  his  reputation 
as  an  author.  It  seems  to  me  feeble,  and  to  embrace 
a  poor  subject.  The  intrigues,  sensuality  and  vices  of 
kings  cannot  be  treated  of,  with  much  interest,  in  any 
publication  -without  marking  them  with  that  stern  rep- 
robation, which  titled  and  fashionable  and  enthroned 
infamy  peculiarly  deserves.  The  graces  and  the  flatteries, 
and  the  fame  of  the  Court  of  Louis  the  14th  of  France, 
do  only  make  the  more  disgusting  the  pride,  selfish- 
ness and  brutality  of  that  hypocritical  and  unprincipled 
scoundrel's  character.  But  I  will  sa}*  nothing  more  of 
him, 

Your  anxiety  to  get  home  again  is  natural  and  com- 
mendable. I  think  you  have  done  well  in  availing 
3-ourself  of  the  fine  opportunity  offered  you  by  3*0111' 
husband's  election  to  Congress,  and  consent  that  you 
should  accompany  him  there,  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  distinguished  circles  of  Washington.  And  I  think 
you  have  done  better  to  make  up  }'our  mind,  notwith- 
standing the  pretension,  the  elegance,  the  intelligence 
and  the  renown  of  those  circles,  to  cherish  an  honest 
and  deep-felt  preference  for  the  more  true-hearted,  art- 
less and  virtuous  society  with  which  }*our  own  village 
will  supply  you.  I  entertain  but  little  confidence  in  the 
qualities  requisite  to  distinction  in  what  are  called  high 
societies  in  am*  country.  In  such  societies  in  our 
country,  I  fear,  there  is  increasing  degradation.  The 
most  distinguished  virtues,  and  the  great  improvements 
of  our  race,  have  always  originated  with  the  poor ;  and 
I  think  we  must  alwavs  chietlv  look  to  them  for  future 
improvements.  This  is  the  lesson  of  history,  and  easily 
to  be  accounted  for.  The  Christian  commandment  of 
love  to   God  and    man   enters    more  deeply  into   the 


296  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

spirits  of  the  reflecting  poor  than  any  others,  and  when 
this  affection  combines  in  all  its  strength  and  purity,  as 
it  sometimes  does  in  their  souls,  with  the  highest  intel- 
lectual power,  and  a  resolution  never  daunted  in  the 
pursuit  of  good,  they  become  the  lights  and  guides  of 
the  world.  In  such  persons  the  want  of  education  is 
nothing.  Every  thing  in  nature  stimulates  them  to 
inquiry  and  to  thought,  and  to  observation.  Their  best 
*  faculties  become  strong  by  exertion.  And  the}'  have  no 
prejudices,  which  always  disable  the  high  born  and  the 
high  bred,  or  if  they  have,  their  prejudices  are  in  favor 
of  the  great  majority  of  their  fellow  beings,  and  not  in 
favor  of  any  little  class.  And  all  social  improvements, 
that  are  true  and  permanent,  benefit,  not  the  few  at 
the  expense  of  the  man}',  but  the  man}'  together  with 
the  few. 

Your  mother's  hand  is  better,  though  not  yet  so  well  as 
to  enable  her  to  write.  She  regrets  this  chiefly  because 
it  prevents  her  from  writing  to  you. 

If  you  see  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  Childs  before  you  start 
for  home,  give  my  respects  to  them,  but  do  not  fail  to 
do  it  to  my  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Whittlesey. 

We  have  heard  no  bad  news  from  Lyons,  though  it 
is  now  two  or  three  weeks  since  we  have  heard  any- 
thing at  all  from  there.  Bolly  is  with  Mrs.  Kingman  and 
goes  to  school.  Sally  is  with  Mrs.  Beaumont  and  I 
hope  considers  herself  at  school  also.  Grace  is  all  the 
child  we  have  at  home.  She  likes  to  hear  your  letters, 
and  wants  very  much  to  have  Cornelia  Chapin  spend 
the  summer  here.  Perhaps,  after  you  get  home,  and 
find  all  things  there  as  you  can  wish,  you  will  be  able 
to  come  out  to  see  us  with  her  and  some  other  of  your 
family.     It   will   give   us  great  happiness.     Give  my 


HIS    HOMES.  297 

affectionate  regards  to  Mr.  Chapin  and  believe  me  as 
iBual  vours.     Ma  and  Grace  send  love. 

Myron  Holley. 

Mr.  Holley's  life  had  not  been  exempt  from 
the  sorrows  of  the  common  lot.  At  Lyons  lie 
had  lost  his  daughter  Cornelia,  a  lovely  child, 
the  next  younger  than  Sally.  He  felt  the  loss 
most  keenly,  but  the  neighbors  who  came  to  con- 
dole with  him  at  his  house,  where  a  Methodist 
minister  preached  a  funeral  sermon,  were  surprised 
that  he  wore  light  clothes,  never  before  having 
seen  a  man  who  did  not  dress  in  black  and  wear 
crape  on  such  an  occasion.  At  Rose  Eidge,  in 
1838,  he  heard  that  three  of  his  daughters,  Mrs. 
Chapin,  Mrs.  Beaumont  and  Mrs.  Kingman,  had 
simultaneously  entered  on  a  six  months  probation 
to  join  the  Methodist  church.  He  sat  down  and 
addressed  to  the  three  jointly  a  very  long  and 
serious  letter,  in  which  he  does  not  object  to  the  act 
1101  cast  any  reproach  on  the  church,  but  very  dis- 
tinctly states  his  notion  of  religion.  By  his  defini- 
tion, Religion  is  "a  practical  obedience  to  all  the 
obligations  of  our  nature  and  just  relations  "  — 
substantially  identical  with  that  of  Voltaire,  Paine 
and  other  distinguished  deists,  whom  the  Method- 
ists as  well  as  most  other  Christian  sects  are  never 


298  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

tired  of  denouncing  as  "  infidels."  He  expresses 
no  anxiety  about  or  prejudice  against  belief  if  only 
duty  was  right.  While  he  was  writing  this  letter, 
one  came  to  him  from  Lockport,  stating  that  his  son 
Eobert  had  just  died  there.  He  incorporates  this 
letter,  and  then  proceeds  to  speak  of  his  son  in 
the  tenderest  terms,  implying  that  though  his 
habits  had  not  all  been  such  as  he  could  wish,  he 
believed  him  not  to  be  beyond  hope.  Neither  the 
Scriptures  nor  his  own  understanding  taught  him 
that  "  probation  was  confined  to  this  life."  The 
whole  of  his  most  affectionate  epistle  taught  trust 
in  Nature  as  well  as  Christ.  If  the  Methodist 
Church  would  apply  to  Miss  Sallie  Holley,  who 
has  preserved  this  letter  in  full,  they  would  find 
it  quite  as  edifying  as  any  of  Paul's.  I  wish  I 
had  room  for  it  here. 

I  must  give  one  which  he  addressed  to  his 
young  son  Bolivar,  who  was  then  a  lad  at  school 
in  Lyons : 

Rose  Ridge,  26th  March,  1337. 
My  Dear  Bolivar, — Grace  and  I  have  just  finished 
a  veiy  pleasant  walk  down  along  the  banks  of  the 
Genesee,  during  which  we  often  thought  of  you.  The 
clear  sk}T,  the  bright  sun,  the  merry  birds,  all  attended 
us,  and  seemed  to  say,  ''Where  is  Bolly,  whom  you 
both  love  so  much,  and  who  used  to  walk  with  }rou 


ins  homes.  299 

here?"  The  best  answer  I  could  make  was,  our  dear 
Bolly  is  at  Lyons,  engaged  in  learning  many  thin  i 
very  necessary  to  enable  him  to  pass  a  useful  and  happy 
;  and  we  hope  he  is  diligent  and  ambitious  to  make 
good  progress.  But  while  he  is  striving  with  all  his 
powers,  to  increase  his  knowledge,  Grace  and  myself, 
and  his  mother,  all  hope  he  will  neither  forget  us.  nor 
lose  one  jot  of  his  love  for  us.  "  That  he  will  not,"  all 
nature  seemed  to  say,  "  and  when  he  comes  home,  im- 

m 

proved  in  mind  and  manners,  and  grown  nearer  to  the 
stature  of  a  man,  you  and  he  will  walk  here  again 
with  increasing  satisfaction.  Perhaps,  in  the  course  of 
the  summer,  which  I  am  now  laboring  to  bring  forth,  he, 
with  some  of  his,  and  your,  best  friends  at  Lyons,  will 
join  }'OU  in  one  or  two  very  pleasant  whortleberry  par- 
ties." "With  this  and  many  other  social  enjo3'ments 
which  we  hope  to  experience  with  him,  we  make  our- 
selves contented  in  his  absence,  praying  to  our  heavenly 
Father,  that  he  rnay  have  the  grace  to  be  always  good, 
which  we  are  sure  will  make  him  always  happy.  Mother 
and  Grace  send  their  best  love  to  you  and  Elizabeth  and 
Caroline  and  Tatty  and  all  their  children  and  friends. 
Affectionately  your  father. 

The  great  cause  of  human  liberty  did  not  allow 
Mr.  Holley  to  spend  that  summer  on  his  farm  of 
Rose  Ridge.  He  hired  a  house  in  Rochester, 
nearer  his  work.  His  labor  was  on  the  press  and 
on  the  stump.  He  felt  that  to  be  the  crisis  of  a 
new  birth.  Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  "Wo 
have  seen  how  effectively  he  labored. 


300  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

Thus  to  pull  up  stakes  was  costly,  difficult  and 
slow.  Debts  must  necessarily  be  incurred.  The 
times  were  excessively  hard.  The  industrious 
north  had  trusted  the  slack-twisted  financial  honor 
of  the  south,  and  it  failed.  The  backers  of  the 
Rochester  Freeman  had  not  the  backbone  to  sus- 
tain it.  Late  in  the  fall  of  1840,  after  Mr.  Holley 
had  finished  his  great  work  of  planting  a  new  party 
on  the  immortal  Declaration  of '76,  he  completed 
the  sale  of  his  beautiful  farm,  received  money 
enough  to  pay  all  his  debts  —  which  he  did  with  a 
relish  only  known  to  honesty  —  and  had  left  $400 
in  hand.  Just  before  the  canal  froze  up  he  visited 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Kino-man,  then  settled  in  Buf- 
falo,  much  enjoying  with  his  family  a  trip  which 
his  earlier  labors  had  made  possible. 

He  returned  to  his  hired  house  at  Rochester  to 
die.  I  find  no  letter  from  him  later  than  one 
addressed  to  J.  W.  Alden  and  Samuel  E.  Sewall, 
in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  attend  the  Massachu- 
setts State  Liberty  Party  Convention  to  be  held  on 
the  24th  of  February,  1841,  in  the  Marlboro 
Chapel  in  Boston.  It  was  dated  Feb.  1,  1841,  — 
only  a  month  and  four  days  previous  to  his  death, 
and  closed  thus  : —  "I  pray  God  to  endow  you  with 
divine    wisdom    and   render   your    convention    a 


HIS   HOMES.  301 

mighty  instrument  of  disabusing  our  cause  of  the 
visionary  notions  which  have  so  much  impeded  it, 
and  placing  it  firmly  in  the  strong  arms  of  Christian 
principles  and  practical  good  sense. 
With  much  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Mraox  Holley." 

The  Last  Home. 
Its  site  is  among  the  beautiful,  tree-crowned 
river  hills,  on  the  Genesee,  above  Eochester  —  in 
a  cemetery  well  named  Mount  Hope.  A  plain 
and  modest  monument  marks  the  spot,  whose  his- 
tory does  honor  to  another  great  man,  who  loved 
him  like  a  brother,  and  whose  own  memory  will 
grow  greener  and  greener  with  his. 

At  a  convention  of  the  Libert)*  Party  of  the  State  of 
Xew  York,  held  at  Canastota,  Sep.  20,  1843,  Gerrit 
Smith  offered  the  following  Eesolutions.  The)*  were, 
after  a  few  remarks  by  him,  passed  unanimously  —  the 
members  of  the  convention  standing  whilst  the  votes 
were  taken.  The  blanks  in  the  2d  and  3d  resolutions 
were  filled  with  the  name  of  Gerrit  Smith. 

1st.  "Whereas  of  all  the  public  and  private  honors, 
which  cluster  so  thickly  and  brightly  around  the  name 
of  Myron  Holley,  there  is  none  so  prominent  and 
enduring,  as  his  devoted  friendship  for  the  slave  ;  and 
whereas  amongst  the  evidence  of  that  friendship,  none 
is  so  worthy  of  record,  as  his   agency  in  founding  the 


302  MYRON     HOLLEY. 

Libert}'  Party  :  Resolved,  therefore,  that  for  this  party 
to  incur  the  expense,  and  have  the  credit  of  erecting  the 
monument  on  his  grave  would  be  strikingly  appropriate  ; 
and  that  now,  when  this  party  is  travelling  so  rapidly 
towards  its  bloodless  and  blessed  victory  over  American 
slavery,  is  a  peculiarly  fit  time  to  erect  it. 

2d.     Resolved,  that ,  be  authorized  to  erect 

the  monument  at  the  expense  of  about  two  hundred 
dollars  ;  and  that  the  only  testimony  to  Mr.  Holley's 
worth  which  shall  be  inscribed  on  it  be  as  follows  : 

THE  LIBERTY  PARTY 
OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 
HAVE  ERECTED  THIS  MONUMENT 
TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 
MYRON  HOLLEY, 
THE  FRIEND  OF  THE  SLAVE, 
AND  THE  MOST  EFFECTIVE,  AS  WELL  AS  ONE  OF  THE 
VERY  EARLIEST  OF  THE  FOUNDERS  OF 
THAT  PARTY. 

3d.  Resolved,  that  each  member  of  the  Liberty 
Part}r  have  the  privilege  of  contributing  one  cent,  no 
more,  towards  the  expense  of  erecting  the  monument ; 

and  that  the  said be  authorized  to  appoint  a 

person  in  each  of  the  free  states  and  free  territories, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  gather  the  contributions  of  his 
respective  state  or  territory,  and  send  the  same  to  him, 
the  said . 

4th.  Resolved,  that  the  first  day  of  October,  1844, 
shall  be  the  period  when  these  contributions  shall  cease 
to  be  made  ;  and  should  their  aggregate  exceed  the  cost 


HIS    HOMES.  303 

of  the  monument,  the  excess  shall  be  given  to  Mr.  IIol- 
ley's  fa mil}\* 

This  was  the  day  of  small  things  and  great 
hopes.  The  next  Presidential  election  showed  less 
than  70,000  Liberty  Party  voters.  If  there  had 
been  enough  at  one  cent  apiece  to  have  given  to 
Mr.  Holley's  family  any  excess  over  the  cost  of 
the  monument,  perhaps  the  victory  over  American 
slavery  would  have  been  "bloodless,"  as  was  then 
hoped.  But  some  thousands  gave  their  cent.  Mr. 
Smith  procured  the  monument,  which  was  of 
Stockbri dge  marble,  made  by  Mr.  Dixon,  of 
Albany,  under  the  superintendence  of  Orville  L. 
Holley. 

*  At  the  date  of  this  Canastota  Convention  the  activity  of 
the  Liberty  Party  leaders  was  such  as  thoroughly  to  frighten 
the  Whig  politicians.  They  had  no  other  cause  of  fear. 
Their  idol,  Clay,  had  won  the  south  by  the  atrocious  speech 
already  cited.  All  they  had  to  do,  was  to  hold  their  ascen- 
dancy at  the  north,  by  keeping  their  voters  from  going  over 
to  the  Liberty  Party.  Neither  high  rhetoric  nor  fair  argu- 
ment was  sufficient  for  that.  At  the  last  fortnight  of  the  can- 
vass in  1844,  the  Michigan  "Whig  State  Committee  concocted 
against  Mr.  Birney  the  basest  and  most  inexcusable  forgery, 
of  a  letter  alleged  to  have  been  written  by  him  to  a  Mr.  Gar- 
land of  Saginaw,  selling  himself  to  the  democrats  for  a  seat  in 
the  legislature.  It  was  worse  than  a  lie.  Supported  by  bets 
in  the  highest  quarters,  it  doubtless  cost  the  Liberty  Party 
thousands  of  votes,  but  it  did  not  save  Henry  Clay. 


304  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

On  one  side  it  bears  the  inscription : 

MYRON  HOLLEY 

BORN  IN  SALISBURY,  CONNECTICUT, 

APRIL  29,  1779. 

DIED  IN  ROCHESTER, 

MARCH  4,   1841. 

HE  TRUSTED  IN  GOD,  AND  LOVED  HIS  NEIGHBOR. 

A  fine  medallion  likeness  by  Carew,  of  Boston, 
in  Italian  marble,  is  inserted  in  the  same  side  of 
the  shaft. 

On  the  opposite  side  were  inscribed  the  words 
above  cited  in  the  second  resolution. 

The  monument  was  dedicated  June  13,  1844, 
under  a  blue  sky,  in  the  presence  of  six  thousand 
persons. 

A  characteristic  eulogy  was  delivered  by  Gerrit 

Smith,  and  the  following  hymn,  composed  for  the 

occasion,  by  John  Pierpont,  was  sung  to  the  tune 

of  "  God  Save  the  King." 

Here,  where  young  Summer  weaves 
A  screen  of  tender  leaves 

Over  thy  grave, 
And  the  wood-robin's  wing 
Around  is  fluttering 
Thy  requiem  we  sing, 

Friend  of  the  slave. 

Here,  in  this  leaf}'  aisle, 
A  monumental  pile 
To  thee  we  rear ; 


HIS    HOMES.  305 

That  strangers  as  they're  led 
These  shady  paths  to  tread 
J.I  ay  linger  by  thy  bed 
And  drop  a  tear. 

Why,  brother,  should  we  mourn? 
Long  hast  thou  bravely  borne 

A  false  world's  frown  :  — 
Yet  He  for  whose  dear  sake, 
Thou  did'st  that  burden  take 
"Well  knoweth  how  to  make 

Thy  cross  thy  crown. 

How  glowed  thy  lips  —  thy  pen 
When  for  thy  fellow  men, 

For  e'en  the  thrall, 
Thy  spirit  dared  to  be 
With  God's  own  freedom  free, 
And  publish  his  decree 

Freedom  for  all  ! 

Tears  —  manly  tears  —  will  yet 
These  cold,  mute  marbles  wet, 

Servant  of  God ; 
And  clouds  in  mourning  drest, 
Low  greeting  from  the  west, 
And  stars  that  watch  thy  rest, 

Bedew  thy  sod. 


306  MYRON  HOLLEY. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

HIS    CHARACTER. 

The  family  is  the  ultimate  test  of  character. 
It  is  the  furnace  where  gold  is  distinguished  from 
every  other  metal.  The  man  or  woman  who  can 
pass  that  ordeal,  and,  like  an  autumn  sunset,  shine 
brighter  to  the  last,  has  a  better  title  to  heroism 
than  any  other  mortal.  Well  ordered,  loving 
families  are  the  only  stuff  that  a  real  republic  can 
be  made  of.  If  the  average  family  is  a  sham,  so 
will  the  republic  be.  If  the  general  fact  is  that 
the  family  is  harmonious,  husband  and  wife  wor- 
shipping each  other  and  living  for  each  other  — 
children,  if  any,  worshipping  mother  and  father  — 
no  matter  what  the  creed  or  the  wealth  may  be, 
the  country  will  be  happy  under  almost  any 
government,  if  not  under  none.  It  cannot  help 
being  a  republic. 

It  was  the  glory  of  Myron  Holley's  life,  that  all 
his  unparalleled  devotion  to  the  public  service,  his 
facing  persecution  for  rectitude,  his  far-seeing  and 
self-sacrilicing  patriotism  were  founded  on  his  love 


HIS   CHARACTER.  307 

for  his  family.  It  was  on  that  theatre  that  his 
magnificent  and  beneficent  powers  of  body  and 
mind  had  full  play.  YTith  delight  he  tossed  his 
babies,  and  his  children's,  in  the  air,  and  when 
their  minds  began  to  open,  poured  his  light  into 
them,  as  the  sun  does  into  the  opening  buds  of 
spring.  Let  us  hope  the  time  will  come  when  the 
republic  will  put  its  supreme  trust  only  in  such 
persons. 

The  idlest  of  all  dreams  is,  that  there  can  be 
patriotism  and  cohesion  in  a  republic,  when  there 
is  not  love,  harmony,  order,  justice  in  the  family. 
If  chains  of  arbitrary  will  and  hoops  of  theoloai- 
cal  creed  are  what  hold  the  family  together,  no 
government  other  than  arbitrary,  plutocratic  and 
theocratic,  as  well  as  military,  can  hold  society 
together. 

That  our  rather  over-lauded  democratic  republi- 
can ofovernment  has  not  <rone  into  utter  disinte- 
^ration  lomj  before  now,  is  doubtless  owing  to 
the  fact,  that  scattered  over  our  vast  country,  of 
all  creeds  and  none,  are,  in  large  proportion,  happy, 
self-supporting,  fondly  loving,  proudly  laboring, 
and  comparatively  free-thinking  families.  These 
families  are  sell-centred  units  ;  and  to  them  the 
e  pluribus  unum  flag  is  more  significant  than  any 


308  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

theological  emblem.  It  teaches  them  to  ostracize 
no  man  or  woman.  Under  it,  they  are  learning 
that  deep  wisdom  which  the  great  English  bard, 
nearly  three  centuries  ago,  put  into  the  mouth  of 
a  heroic  woman  who  essayed  the  healing  art : 

"  Our  remedies  oft  in  ourselves  do  lie, 
Which  we  ascribe  to  Heaven.     The  fated  sky 
Gives  us  free  scope ;  only,  doth  backward  pull 
Our  slow  designs,  when  we  ourselves  are  dull." 

It  is  now  more  than*fr?£%&jf  years  since  Myron 
Ilolley  Avas  laid  beneath  the  sod,  wept  by  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  white  and  black — the  sky 
weeping  too.  Others  may  have  forgotten,  but 
his  sons  and  daughters  worship  him  more  and 
more.  The  few  that  knew  him  personally  at  all, 
do  so  too  ;  and  their  only  regret  is  that  they  did 
not  know  him  more  intimately. 

Under  the  date  of  March  19,  1878,  Henry 
O'Rielly,  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  and  honest  of 
the  men  who  spread  the  telegraph  wires  over  the 
continent,  wrote  me  about  Mr.  Holley  :  — 

"  A  lonsr  life  has  not  enabled  me  to  see  a  man 
more  worthy  of  honor  and  love.  I  use  the  last 
word  warily  —  for  his  was  a  truly  lovable  charac- 
ter. When  I  came  to  know  him  (for  he  was  my 
neighbor  for   several  of  his  later  years),  I  fre- 


HIS    CHARACTER.  309 

pented  in  sack-cloth  and  ashes '  (metaphorically 
speaking)  for  what  I  saw  was  the  injustice  done 
towards  him  by  many  of  the  partizans  with  whom 
I  was  associated,  persons  in  whose  prejudices  I, 
for  awhile,  participated  —  but  only  for  awhile;  for 
unfounded  prejudice  gave  way  speedily,  as  I 
became  acquainted  with  the  excellence  of  his  whole 
character.  Few  could  know  him  so  well  as  I 
knew  him  —  for  I  knew  him  in  adversity  for  seve- 
ral years."  In  this  letter  Mr.  O'Rielly  also 
says  :  "  I  first  cleared  up  and  laid  out  the  'Trian- 
gle Tract'  in  Mt.  Hope,  on  which  our  lot  is  next 
to  Mr.  Holley's  monument  —  where  a  tablet 
records  the  simple  fact  that  f  Capt.  Henry  Brooks 
O'Rielly  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  fell  in  May, 
1862'  —  defending  in  the  field  what  Mr.  Holley 
courageously  advocated  in  a  life  of  severe  trial, 
in  the  latter  part  of  which  life  none  knew  him 
better  than  I  did." 

Mr.  O'Rielly,  who  took  a  leading  part  in  the 
enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal,  was  able  to,  and 
kindly  did,  furnish  incontestible  documents,  prov- 
ing what  has  been  stated  in  the  foregoing  pages, 
to  wit,  that,  to  the  practical  sagacity,  zeal  and 
self-denvimr  devotion  of  Mvron  Hollev,  XewYork 
and  the  world  owe  it,  that  the  original  canal  did 


310  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

not  stop  at  Oswego,  and  probably  that  anything 
of  the  sort  was  begun  in  1817. 

But  the  most  convincing  proof  of  the  high  moral 
as  well  as  physical  excellence  of  Mr.  Holley,  is 
the  fidelity  and  reverence  with  which  his  now  ven- 
erable daughters  cherish  his  memory.  We  have 
already  seen  the  cause  of  this  in  the  letters  already 
cited  in  the  previous  pages.  His  religion  differed 
from  that  of  most  fathers  in  that  it  included  what 
is  good  in  ail  religions,  grew  from  all  sources, 
excluded  none,  conceived  of  God  as  simply  a 
personification  of  all  the  abstract  verities — eter- 
nally self-existent  —  a  universal  fatherhood  — 
inseparable  from  the  nature  of  things.  There  was 
in  it,  no  total  depravity,  no  original  sin,  no  im- 
puted righteousness,  no  atonement  by  blood,  no* 
miraculous  conversion,  no  angry  tyrant  to  be  pro- 
pitiated by  the  sacrifice  of  innocent  enjoyments. 
No  wonder  then  that  his  daughter  Sallie  should 
write  of  him  —  and  her  words  will  surely  gain 
more  credence  than  mine  — "  Nothing  impressed 
me  more,  as  I  grew  into  young  womanhood,  than 
my  father's  earnest  religious  convictions,  ever 
ardent,  alive  and  all  controlling.  I  never  knew 
any  soul  who  had  such  an  unfaltering  faith  in 
immortality  —  more  like  sight  than  faith,  a  habit- 


HIS   CHARACTER.  311 

nal  anticipation  of  heaven,  that  transfigured  all 
human  life  to  him  and  dignified  every  act.  He 
utterly  repudiated  the  popular  theology.  He 
thought  it  unscriptural,  irrational  and  demoraliz- 
ing, and  that  it  deplorably  hindered  the  coming 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  upon  earth.  So  he,  as 
I  knew  him,  could  not  sanction  going  to  the  fash- 
ionable  churches.  I  never  in  all  my  life  saw  him 
in  a  church.  Instead  he  used  to  hold  a  simple 
service  in  our  home  parlor  in  Lyons,  in  which  the 
family  and  the  poorer  neighbors  joined.  After  his 
removal  to  Eochester  he  convened  Sunday  morn- 
ing meetings  at  the  Court  House,  where  he 
preached  regularly.  There  was  no  Unitarian  or 
liberal  preaching  otherwise  in  the  city.  TThile  he 
occupied  the  fine  fruit  and  vegetable  farm  a  few 
miles  north  of  Rochester,  at  Carthage,  his  custom 
was  to  hold  Sunday  meetings  in  the  poor  old 
district  school-house  there.  What  a  curious,  odd 
audience  used  to  gather  to  listen  and  look  at  him. 
Every  rank  in  society  was  represented.  There 
sat  the  elegant  and  courtlv  Judge  E.  B.  Strong 
with  occasionally  the  ladies  of  his  household. 
And  the  Episcopalian  Hoopers,  on  Sundays  too 
rainy  to  get  to  their  St.  Paul's  in  the  city,  came 
to  this  extraordinary  kind  of  worship,  where  they 


312  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

met  the  poorest  and  most  humble  day-laborers, 
and  even  drunkards  and  outcasts  did  not  feel 
themselves  excluded  from  the  all-embracing 
humanity  of  those  ministrations." 

"It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  families, 
too  degraded  by  intemperance  and  vice  to  venture 
to  ask  a  clergyman,  to  send  for  my  father  to  offi- 
ciate at  their  funerals.  Thev  saw  in  their  daily 
intercourse  with  him,  that  his  divine  tenderness 
took  them  all  in." 

"This  Carthage  farm,  which  he  named  f  Rose 
Ridge'  for  the  beautiful  roses  he  used  to  grow 
there,  yielded  choice  fruits  and  vegetables,  that 
my  father,  in  a  light  wagon,  took  himself  up  to 
the  city  to  supply  customers  —  mostly  wealthy 
families,  and  one  of  the  lively  ladies  used  to 
declare  that '  Mr.  Holley  sold  early  peas  and  pota- 
toes, asparagus  and  tomatoes  in  the  morning,  with 
as  much  grace  as  he  delivered  Lyceum  lectures  in 
the  evening.'  The  garden,  the  orchard  and  all 
out-door  nature  was  a  perpetual  joy  to  him.  The 
very  trees  and  stars  were  significant  and  friendly 
to  his  pure  heart." 

M I  was  told  this  anecdote  of  those  days.  Dr. 
Vrhitehouse,  the  most  exclusive  and  aristocratic 
Episcopal    clergyman   of    Rochester,    himself  an 


HIS    CHARACTER.  313 

Englishman,  had  married  a  Bordentown  lady  of 
the  Joseph  Bonaparte  neighborhood,  and  brought 
her  to  what  she  regarded  as  the  outside  barbarian 
world.  After  a  residence  of  some  months,  she 
one  day,  in  a  fit  of  enthusiastic  delight,  ran  up  to 
her  husband's  study,  and  broke  in  with,  '"Why, 
Doctor  !  I've  just  seen  the  only  gentleman  I  have 
yet  met  with  in  Rochester ;  and  he  was  at  our 
basement  door  selling  vegetables  !  how  wonderful ! 
who  is  it?  Who  can  it  be?'  fO,' smiled  the 
Doctor,  f  it  must  be  Myron  Holley.'  " 

In  regard  to  the  sin  of  selling  vegetables  that 
Reverend  Doctor  could  be  more  forgiving  than  in 
regard  to  that  of  heresy.  I  have  on  the  best 
authority  a  fact  characteristic  of  his  profession  and 
of  the  age  that  is  passing  away.  Mr.  Holley 's 
son-in-law,  Graham  H.  Chapin,  was  sent  to  Con- 
gress from  Lyons  by  a  combination  of  Democrats 
and  Masons,  in  the  Anti-Masonic  times.  He  was 
a  kind-hearted,  unprogressive,  college-bred,  gen- 
tlemanly man  of  the  surface.  Residing  after  his 
return  from  Congress  at  Rochester,  he  regularly 
attended  the  most  fashionable  church  there,  and 
died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity.  Dr.  vVhitehouse 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  in  which  he  praised 
him  for  not  accepting  "  the  cold,  frigid  philosophy 


314  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

of  Unitarianism  of  Myron  Holley,"  whom  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  stigmatize  as  an  "  open  infidel "  — 
a  phrase  which  had  vastly  more  force  then  than 
now. 

This  pulpit  anathema  was  ignorantly  hurled  at 
a  man  who  had  written  the  following  beautiful 
form  of  prayer  for  his  youngest  daughter,  Grace. 
I  copy  it  from  his  own  handwriting  : 

"  Father  in  Heaven,  to  thee  I  owe 

The  blessings  which  my  days  have  crown'd; 
My  parents  kind,  thou  didst  bestow, 

And  dearer,  children  never  found ; 
My  sisters  and  my  brothers  too, 

Thy  goodness  to  my  heart  has  giv'n ; 
To  thee,  O  may  we  all  be  true, 

And  find,  in  love,  our  path  to  heav'n." 

No  sane  mortal  ever  objects  to  prayers  devoid 
of  superstition,  and  such  were  the  sincere  and  un- 
pretending prayers  of  Myron  Holley.  They  were 
not  pompous,  pharisaic  or  dictatorial,  and  never 
asked  for  miracles.  He  would  never  have  joined 
in  any  national  teazing  of  the  Infinite  about  the 
weather,  or  the  healing  of  gun-shot  wounds. 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  a  man  who  prayed 
in  his  family  and  taught  his  children  to  pray, 
should  set  his  face  resolutely  against  all  religious 
fanaticism?      About   the    time   when   revivalism 


HIS   CHARACTER.  315 

broke  out  in  a  school  in  Lyons,  as  already  related, 
a  revival  preacher,  by  the  name  of  Littlejohn, 
came  to  that  place  and  proposed  to  hold  a  "  pro- 
tracted meeting  "  of  42  days.  Mr.  Holley  assem- 
bled the  influential  citizens  in  the  Court  House, 
and  set  before  them  the  demoralizing  effects  of 
such  meetings  so  vividly,  that  the  project  was 
abandoned.  Happy  would  it  be,  wherever  such 
extravagances  threaten  to  become  epidemic,  if 
some  enlightened  and  tenderly  religious  person 
would  have  the  moral  courage  to  do  as  he  did. 

As  an  employer  of  labor,  we  have  already  seen 
that  Mr.  Holley  was  eminently  successful.  It  was 
his  overruling  sense  of  justice  and  warm  sympathy 
with  the  laborer  which  pushed  the  great  ditch 
through  two  hundred  miles  of  forests,  marshes 
and  swamps.  Shirking  no  hardship  or  danger, 
he  inspired  the  digger  and  contractor  alike  with 
enthusiasm,  which  neither  physical  obstacles  or 
popular  clamor  could  daunt.  Years  after  the 
canal  was  finished  and  he  was  living  quietly  in  his 
five-acre  garden  in  Lyons,  or  on  his  hundred  and 
twenty  acre  farm  in  Carthage,  some  coarse-clad 
but  grateful  Irishman  would  call  on  him  and 
remind  him  of  the  c;ood  old  times  of  the  diviner. 
One  said  :   "  Commissioner,  I  was  the  man  who 


316  MYEON   HOLLEV. 

carried  the  lantern,"  or  recalled  some  other 
service  ;  and  he  was  seldom  without  the  aid  in  his 
garden  or  on  his  farm,  of  one  or  more  of  these 
humble  volunteers,  happy  to  work  for  him  with- 
out pay,  weeks  at  a  time  ;  but  whom  he  lodged, 
fed  and  dismissed  with  better  clothes  and  a  sense 
that  in  him  they  had  a  friend  who  would  w7elcome 
them  whenever  they  came.  He  had  the  strength 
of  a  giant,  and  did  not  abstain  from  using  it  in  a 
combative  sense  on  a  fit  occasion.  When  his 
eldest  daughter  was  living  in  a  house  not  far  from 
his  own  at  Lyons,  with  her  first  child  in  her  arms, 
he  became  aware  that  she  was  in  danger  from  a 
stout,  unprincipled  tramp  wTho  had  called  on  her 
as  a  beggar  and  found  her  alone.  Hastening  to 
the  house,  without  saying  a  word,  he  grasped  the 
fellow  around  body  and  both  arms,  and  carried 
him,  bellowing  for  mercy,  through  the  yard  and 
into  the  middle  of  the  street,  where  he  set  him 
down.  Greatly  relieved,  the  miserable  wretch 
ran  as  if  he  had  escaped  from  a  lion. 

He  wTas  an  early  riser,  enjoyed  his  food,  used 
neither  intoxicating  drinks  nor  tobacco.  w  Thank 
you,  I  smoke  clear,"  he  said,  when  invited  to  take 
a  cigar.  His  evenings  were  always  spent  at  home, 
when  practicable.     His  daughters  do  not  remem- 


HIS   CHARACTER.  317 

ber  that  he  ever  spoke  a  cross  word  in  his  family, 
or  indulged  in  a  selfish  act,  or  showed  anger  under 
any  provocation.  He  was  refined  without  regard 
to  conventionality.  His  patience  was  impertur- 
bable and  his  self-command  absolute.  Such 
ability  to  govern  his  own  spirit  is  to  a  good  man 
and  reformer  as  invaluable  as  it  is  rare. 

His  delight  in  little  children  was  a  conspicuous 
trait.  They  were  never  in  his  way.  He  loved  to 
have  them  with  him  in  his  garden,  teaching  them 
how  to  sow  seeds  and  pull  up  the  weeds.  TThen 
he  came  in,  he  would  be  carrving  two  or  three  of 
his  little  grand-children  on  his  broad  shoulders  at 
once.     He    always  carried  in  his  pocket  a  little 

i 

wooden  folding  comb  which  his  own  father  had 
made  for  him,  with  his  own  hands,  and  once  when 
he  came  in  from  his  garden,  after  sowing  pepper- 
grass,  one  of  these  little  ones,  who  had  been 
assisting,  climbing  up  in  a  chair  beside  him, 
begged  the  privilege  of  using  this  comb  on  his 
head,  which  was  granted.  After  she  had  proceed- 
ed a  little  in  the  operation,  finding  a  bald  spot  on 
the  top  of  his  head,  she  excited  a  great  laugh  by 
saying,  "  Grandpa,  why  don't  'oo  sow  hair  seed  on 
here  ?  " 

TThile  he  lived  in  Rochester,  editing  the  "Free- 


318  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

man "  for  the  abolitionists,  he  was  resorted  to 
from  far  and  near,  by  entire  strangers,  for  the 
settlement  of  disputes.  They  were  ready  to  abide 
by  his  decision,  for  they  said  he  was  better  than 
any  of  the  city  courts.  M  Grace  Greenwood," 
who  lived  in  Rochester  at  the  time,  says  she  well 
remembers  "  his  grand  and  stately  presence 
coming  down  the  street,  when  the  people  would 
part  in  reverence  and  admiration  on  either  side, 
like  the  waves  of  the  sea,  for  him  to  pass  through." 

With  all  this  dignity  of  demeanor  there  was 
never  any  austerity  or  arrogance.  Once,  in 
Lyons,  when  there  was  great  excitement  about 
the  "  sin  of  dancing,"  the  ministers  all  preaching 
and  praying  against  it,  Mr.  Holiey  quietly  said: 
"  It  is  as  natural  for  young  people  to  like  to  dance 
as  for  the  apple-trees  to  blossom  in  the  spring." 

For  the  heart  of  a  man  we  naturally  look  to  the 
closing  scene.  One  of  his  daughters  ffives  me 
this  account  of  it : 

"The  affection  between  my  father  -and  his 
brothers  and  only  sister  was  above  anything  I 
have  ever  known  on  earth.  They  never  separated 
without  tears  and  kisses,  and  to  the  latest  hour  of 
his  life  Salisbury  was  treasured  with  the  fondest 
affection.     The  first  person  he  expected  to  meet 


HIS    CHARACTER.  319 

in  heaven  was  his  mother.  His  brain  was  clear 
and  unclouded  to  the  last  moment  of  his  life.  I 
was  with  him  most  of  the  time  during  his  last 
sickness.  He  again  and  again  expressed  his  full 
faith  in  a  glorious  resurrection.  He  said,  a  few 
days  before  his  death :  f  I  believe  Jesus  Christ 
was  a  man,  and  I  believe  in  the  final  restoration 
of  all  mankind  to  happiness.'  The  day  before  he 
died  he  tenderly  assured  all  of  us,  his  family,  that 
he  f  should  always  love  us  and  think  of  us  in 
heaven.'  '  I  never  deceived  anybody  in  my 
life,'  was  one  of  his  latest  declarations.  About 
the  last  thing  from  his  lips  was  :  f  I  think  I  shall  be 
dead  in  two  hours.  Let  the  funeral  be  plain.  God 
bless  my  wife  and  children.'  He  died  at  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  while 
the  Rochester  bells  were  ringing  and  cannon 
firino-,  in  honor  of  President  Harrison's  inausmra- 
tion  at  Washington." 

So  much  for  his  domestic  character. 

As  to  the  public  character  of  Myron  Holley,  no 
testimony  can  be  more  reliable  than  that  of  Col. 
William  L.  Stone,  in  his  day  the  highly  popular 
editor  of  the  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser. 
Col.  Stone  was  well  versed  in  the  history  of  New 
York,  was  an  outspoken  anti-mason  and  a  decided, 


3  JO  MYRON    HOLLEY. 


if  not  bitter,  anti-abolitionist.  He  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  Holley  family,  and  personal 
characterization  was  his  forte.  In  the  following 
biographical  sketch  he  makes  some  strange  mis- 
takes of  facts  —  especially  one,  in  saying  the  State 
allowed  Mr.  Holley  "a  commission  upon  the 
moneys  he  had  disbursed  "  —  and "  lets  his  pro- 
slavery  prejudices  appear  in  full  force.  The 
present  generation  will  pity  him  for  that,  but  it 
makes  the  praise  he  bestows  on  Mr.  Holley  all 
the  stronger,  —  in  fact,  time  has  converted  that 
part  of  his  sketch  into  the  highest  eulogium. 
Take  notice  :  Col.  Stone  supposed  the  State  had 
paid  Mr.  Holley  money  which  it  still  owes. 

"Death  of  Myron  Holley.  — The  decease  of 
this  distinguished  man  was  announced  several  days 
ago,  during  the  absence  of  the  present  writer,  or 
the  event  would  have  received  a  notice  less  sum- 
mary than  it  did.  He  was  a  native  of  the  town  of 
Salisbury,  Connecticut,  a  brother  of  the  late  Rev. 
Dr.  Horace  Holley,  President  of  the  Transylvania 
University,  and  also  of  Orville  Holley,  the  present 
Surveyor  General  of  this  state.  There  were  seven 
brothers,  distinguished  alike  for  their  talents  and 
fine  manly  proportions,  being  all,  or  nearly  all  of 


HIS    CHARACTER.  321 

them,  larger  than  the  ordinary  size  of  man. 
Myron,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  began  his  colle- 
giate life,  we  believe,  at  Williamstown,  and  com- 
pleted it  at  Harvard. 

"He  was  destined  for  the  bar,  and  went  through 
the  usual  preparatory  course  of  legal  reading  ;  but 
the  drudgery  of  the  profession  was  uncongenial  to 
his  habits,  and  his  taste  was  better  satisfied  with 
the  study  of  belles-lettres  and  the  classics,  than 
with  the  law.  The  consequence  was,  that  he  never 
entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession.  At 
the  age  of  about  twenty-two  he  settled  in  the  then 
infant  and  now  beautiful  town  of  Canandaio-ua, 
where  he  soon  afterward  married.  In  the  year 
1804  he  went  into  the  book-selling  business 
there,  and  continued  therein  some  five  or  six 
years,  when  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  county 
of  Ontario. 

"He  was  subsequently  elected  to  the  State  Leg- 
islature, and  was  a  member  when  the  project  of 
uniting  the  lakes  with  the  ocean,  by  means  of  a 
canal,  began  to  be  discussed.  He  at  once  saw  the 
importance  of  the  subject.  The  grandeur  of  the 
enterprise    suited   well  his    expansive   and    vivid 

imai>i nation,  and  he  enlisted  in  the  cause  with  all 
© 

the  talent  and  enthusiasm  of  his  nature     He  saw 


322  MYRON   HOLLEY. 

in  the  future  a  stream  of  gold  from  the  great  West, 
flowing  into  the  lap  of  Xew  York,  and  with  all  the 
energies  of  his  mind  he  labored  to  induce  the  gov- 
eminent  of  the  State  to  cut  a  channel  for  the  glit- 
tering wave.  Side  by  side  with  De  Witt  Clinton 
during  the  sessions  of  1816  and  1817,  did  he  labor 
at  Albany,  to  induce  the  Legislature  to  enter  upon 
the  mighty  work  ;  and  on  the  passage  of  the  act  of 
1817,  authorizing  its  commencement,  with  Stephen 
Van  Rensselaer,  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  Samuel 
Young,  Myron  Holley  was  appointed  one  of  the 
commissioners.     He  was   charged   as    the  acting 

commissioner  of  the  Erie  canal,  and  Colonel  Young 
as  that  of  the  canal  to  unite  the  Hudson  with  Lake 
Champlain. 

"Great  apprehensions  were  entertained,  in  eon- 
sequence  of  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking,  lest 
the  people  should  be  alarmed  at  the  cost,  or  be- 
come discouraged  at  the  slowness  of  the  progress. 
Mr.  Holley  wisely  counselled  the  construction  of 
the  middle  section,  from  Utica  to  Syracuse,  first, 
thus  as  it  were,  compelling  the  people  East  and 
West  of  that  section  to  insist  upon  the  completion 
of  the  whole  with  the  utmost  possible  expedition. 
The  result  was  unexampled  in  the  annals  of  internal 
improvement.     The   ground  was   broken  by  the 


HIS   CHARACTER.  323 

commissioners  on  the  4th  of  July,  1817,  at  Rome, 
and  a  boat  from  Lake  Erie  fell  into  the  embrace  of 
the  ocean  in  October,  1825. 

"Mr.  Holley  had  never  been  remarkable  for  his 
attention  to  the  minor  details  of  business.  In  his 
own  private  affairs  he  oftener  paid  out  his  dollars 
and  cents  without  counting  them,  than  with  it.* 
This  easy  trait  in  his  character  did  not  escape  the 
subordinate  agents  employed  to  assist  him  in  the 
disbursement  of  the  public  moneys  along  the  line 
of  the  canal ;  and  owing  to  his  want  of  exactness 
in  these  matters,  to  probable  losses,  and  possibly 
to  the  dishonesty  of  a  bank  teller  through  whose 
hands  the  bundles  of  bank  notes  were  passed  to 
him  in  Albany  —  a  teller  who  afterward  turned  out 
to  be  a  defaulter  and  a  rascal  —  Mr.  Holley's 
vouchers  did  not  cover  his  apparent  expenditures, 
and  he  became  technically,  a  defaulter.  The  con- 
sequence was  a  resignation  of  the  post  he  had  so 
ably  filled.  But  he  was  not  suspected  of  dishon- 
esty ;  and  by  allowing  him  a  commission  upon  the 

*  If  this  was  so,  Mr.  Holley  resembled  Daniel  Webster  in 
that  respect.  But  it  is  doubtful.  Mr.  Holley  was  not  penu- 
rious, yet  in  the  "  minor  details  qf  business,"  his  results  and 
reports  show  that  no  man  of  his  responsibilities  was  ever 
more  careful  and  accurate. 


324  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

moneys  he  had  disbursed,  his  accounts  were  finally 
adjusted  with  the  state. 

"But  with  a  soul  alive  to  honor,  his  sensitive 
mind,  wounded  at  the  imputations  cast  upon  him 
by  the  partizan  papers  of  the  day,  rested  ever 
afterward  beneath  a  cloud.  He  settled  at  Lyons, 
a  pleasant  village  upon  the  canal  about  twenty 
miles  north  of  Geneva,  where,  in  retirement,  he 
devoted  himself  to  horticultural  pursuits  for  several 
years,  with  great  success.  His  time  was  divided 
alternately  between  his  library,  his  garden,  and  his 
private  friends. 

"After  the  abduction  and  murder  of  Morgan,  Mr. 
Holley  became  actively  engaged  in  the  anti-masonic 
controversy.  His  feelings  recoiled  with  horror 
from  the  dark  tragedy  *  by  which  freemasonry 
killed  itself  as  well  as  its  victim,  and  he  joined 
with  spirit  in  the  contest  which  ensued.  Having 
labored  with  success  in  the  cause  in  the  West,  he 
repaired  to  Connecticut  and  took  the  editorial 
charge  of  a  newspaper  devoted  to  it  in  Hartford. 
He  edited  this  paper  with  ability  for  about  a  year, 
but  the  people  of  Connecticut  saw  little  necessity 

*  That  is  true  enough.  But  it  was  the  fact  that  the  authors 
of  the  tragedy  were  screened  by  an  oath-bound  fraternity, 
many  of  whose  members  sat  on  the  bench  of  justice,  that  im- 
pelled Mr.  Holly  to  action. 


HIS    CHARACTER.  :,>25 

for  fighting  the  battles  of  anti-masonry  over  again 
in  that  state,  after  the  battle  had  been  fought  and 
won  on  the  Ground  of  the  original  excitement,  and 
Mr.  Holley  returned  to  Western  New  York,  and 
settled  down  upon  a  farm  in  the  vicinity  of  Roch- 
ester, where  he  again  turned  horticulturist  with  as 
much  taste  and  success  as  before. 

"About  three  years  ago  another  change  came  over 
him.  He  was  ever  a  lover  of f  the  largest  liberty,' 
and  the  idea  of  'the  oppressors  rod,'  wherever  or 
by  whomsoever  wielded,  was  abhorrent  to  the  noble 
impulses  of  his  nature.  The  exaggerated  tales  of 
human-  suffering  and  woe  among  the  sable  sons  of 
the  South,  as  declared  by  the  agents  and  ministers 
of  the  abolitionists,  seized  upon  him  with  a  degree 
of  freshness  and  power  which  seemed  to  drive  all 
other  thoughts  from  his  mind,  and  he  at  once 
entered  upon  this  new  field  of  labor  with  a  zeal  that 
would  have  clone  honor  to  Peter  the  Hermit.  Dis- 
posing of  his  farm,  he  invested  its  proceeds  in  the 
establishment  of  an  abolition  press  at  Rochester. 
But  it  was  too  late.  The  abolition  fires  were  fast 
burning:  out.  Even  his  own  acknowledged  literary 
taste  and  talent  could  not  sustain  his  paper ;  and 
having  exhausted  his  means  it  died. 

"Mr.  Holley  struggled  onward  by  public  lectures 


J 6  MYROX    HOLLEY. 

to  keep  up  the  contest,  but  in  vain 

Having  ceased  those  exertions,  all  other  earthly 
labors  have  soon  been  ended,  and  he  sleeps  with 
the  dead.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  feelings  and  a 
noble  heart,  of  elegant  person  and  accomplished 
manners.  His  mind  was  an  ample  store-house  of 
English  and  classical  literature,  and  they  were 
poured  forth  in  conversation  with  rich  and  eloquent 
profusion.  As  a  colloquialist,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  even  Coleridge  was  more  fascinating, 
although  he  was  more  ambitious  and  profound. 
His  life,  as  we  have  seen,  was  full  of  vicissitudes. 
In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  it  was  never  profita- 
ble to  himself.  The  middle  portion  of  it  was  of 
great  advantage  to  the  state.  His  latter  years 
were  by  no  means  those  of  unclouded  brightness ; 
and  his  sun  has  set  in  gloom  ! " 

Mr.  Holley  was  the  last  man  in  New  York  likely 
to  be  carried  into  the  abolition  camp  by  "  exagger- 
ated tales,"  but  Col.  Stone,  who  did  not  remember 
one  of  the  "tales"  in  his  own  columns,  ante,  page 
80,  must  somehow  account  for  his  old  friend's 
going  over  to  the  enemy.  It  was  not  very  long 
after  Mr.  Holley's  death  that  the  heroic  John 
Quincy  Adams,  in  his  trial  before  the  House  of 


HIS    CHARACTER.  327 

Representatives,  showed  the  slaveholders,  out  of 
their  own  mouths  and  newspapers,  that  these 
tales  were  by  no  means  exaggerated. 

Had  Col.  Stone  lived  till  our  day,  he  would 
have  seen  that  Mr.  Holley's  founding  the  Liberty 
Party  was  the  greatest  success  of  his  life,  and 
really  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  the  present 
and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  future  unity  and  glory  of 
our  republic,  as  his  canal  success  does  to  the  pros- 
perity and  wealth  of  Xew  York. 

The  State  of  Xew  York,  beyond  dispute,  saved 
$80,000  by  throwing  upon  Mr.  Holley  a  burden 
of  responsibility,  for  which  it  paid  him  nothing  — 
not  even  one  per  cent,  on  his  disbursements.  It 
ascertained  his  perfect  honesty,  and  placed  the 
fact  on  record.  It  then  restored  his  small  estate 
which  he  had  placed  in  its  possession,  to  secure  it 
against  an  alleged  default,  at  the  same  time  exact- 
ing  from  him  a  voucher  that  he  would  not  prose- 
cute his  righteous  claim  to  any  percentage  what- 
ever on  his  disbursements.  This  claim,  at  simple 
interest,  must  now  amount  to  more  than  $100,000, 
which  is  as  justly  due  to  Mr.  Holley's  heirs,  and 
as  much  needed  by  some  of  them,  as  any  debt 
that  was  ever  due  in  this  world.  It  is  impossible 
to  predict  when  it  will  be  paid.     And  it  is  equally 


328  MYRON    HOLLEY. 

impossible  to  see  how  the  people  of  New  York, 
made  rich  by  Myron  Holley's  canal  labors,  can 
enjoy  riding  in  their  beautiful  Central  Park  with- 
out seeing  there  a  statue  of  Myron  Holley,  as  well 
as  one  of  De  Witt  Clinton. 

The  Rochester  Democrat  of  March  5,  1841, 
said  of  Myron  Holley  —  and  never  were  truer 
words  uttered  of  the  dead  :  — 

'This  eminent  citizen,  accomplished  scholar 
and  noble  man,  expired  yesterday  morning,  at  his 
residence  on  Johnson  Street,  in  this  city,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-two,  carrying  with  him  to  the  grave 
the  love  and  regrets  of  all  who  knew  him.  The 
public  services  of  Mr.  Holley  are  engraved  upon 
the  state,  as  enduring  as  Lake  Erie  and  the 
Hudson,  while  his  private  virtues  and  benevolence 
will  live  in  the  hearts  of  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances until  they  cease  to  beat." 


